Jonathan Majors No Longer Attending A-List Fundraiser After Assault Charges

Jonathan Majors is no longer appearing at an A-list poetry fundraiser after he was arrested and charged with assault and harassment last month.

The Creed III star was arrested on March 25 by the New York Police Department. They were called to an apartment in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood after receiving a 9-1-1 call from a woman involved in a domestic dispute.

A lawyer for Majors, who has been contacted for comment, previously told Newsweek that her client is innocent.

The 33-year-old actor faced the Manhattan Criminal Court the same day and was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment, and attempted assault. He was released without bail and will face court again on May 8.

Prosecutors claimed Majors slapped a 30-year-old woman, believed to be his girlfriend, in a cab, "causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear," and also put his hands on her neck, "causing bruising and substantial pain."

Majors' lawyer Priya Chaudry, in a statement sent to the media on Wednesday evening, said: "Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not abused anyone. We have provided irrefutable evidence to the District Attorney that the charges are false. We are confident that he will be fully exonerated."

Majors had been named as a central drawcard to the Poetry and the Creative Mind 2023 event alongside celebrities including, activist Malala Yousafzai and actors Ethan Hawke and Liam Neeson.

The event's marketing director, Michelle Campagna, told Newsweek: "I can confirm that there have been changes to the celebrity roster and that Jonathan Majors will not be participating in Poetry & the Creative Mind 2023."

Set to take place online on April 26, other attendees include Rosie Perez, Alan Cumming, National Student Poet Emily Igwike, Daniel Dae Kim, Eric Kim, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, John Lithgow, Shantell Martin, and Molly Shannon.

The event is the 20th annual fundraiser for the Academy of American Poets and is being held during National Poetry Month.

"Poetry & the Creative Mind features leading and legendary actors, artists, dancers, musicians, chefs, and other notable public figures sharing their favorite poems," reads a description of the event on its official website.

It is not known what poem Majors was set to read or why he is no longer attending the event. Newsweek has reached out to his lawyer, Priya Chaudry for comment.

The poetry event is only one of the major shake-ups in Majors' career since his arrest. It was revealed this week that he would be stepping down from the board of the Gotham Film and Media Institute and the Sidney Poitier Initiative.

Majors' publicists, the Lede Company, and management—Entertainment 360—announced they were dropping the Marvel actor from their roster.

Adverts that Majors appeared in for the U.S. Army, which were set to premiere during March Madness college basketball games, were pulled off-air following his arrest.

Following his publicists' moving on, Chaudry defended her client and denied the charges against him.

Shortly after his arrest, Chaudry had told Newsweek it had been Majors who had called 9-1-1 "due to concern for [the woman's] mental health."

"To set the record straight: As confirmed by one of the woman's own written statements disavowing her allegations, it is Mr. Majors who called 9-1-1 due to concern for her mental health," she told Newsweek.

Majors had enjoyed a meteoric rise to A-list status in Hollywood since appearing in the cult sci-fi hit Lovecraft Country on Apple TV+.

He then hit the big time when he debuted as Marvel's newest villain Kang the Conqueror in the Disney+ series, Loki.

Majors recently starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opposite Paul Rudd and will also appear in the upcoming Marvel features, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026.

The actor made his Academy Awards debut earlier in March when he presented an award with his Creed 3 co-star, Michael B. Jordan.