What Did Jonathan Majors Do? Controversy Explained as Trial Begins

Actor Jonathan Majors' criminal trial in New York City begins this week as he faces charges of harassment and assault.

The Loki actor, 34, will face court on November 29 on two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment and attempted assault from a series of incidents involving his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari in March. If found guilty, he could serve up to a year in jail.

New York Police in Manhattan arrested Majors and alleged the actor pulled Jabbari's finger, twisted her arm behind her back, struck and cut her ear and pushing her into a vehicle. As a result, Jabbari suffered a broken finger, a laceration on her ear and bruises, according to city prosecutors.

Majors' lawyers have long denied the charges and claimed that 30-year-old Jabbari first attacked him during an altercation in Chinatown.

His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, previously said to Newsweek that Jabbari was "drunk and hysterical" in Chinatown.

"Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows," she said in March.

"Unfortunately, this incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday. The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested."

The incident which led to 911 being called began in a car and continued in a Chelsea apartment where they were staying, but Chaudhry said it was Majors who called the police out of concerns for Jabbari's health.

Majors first appeared in court on March 25 wearing a cap emblazoned with the word "Freedom." He has attended other court dates, including on August 3 with new girlfriend, actor Meagan Good.

Several months after Majors' arrest, the NYPD issued an "incident card" for Jabbari to present at a precinct for questioning over the Chinatown incident, but later canceled it.

However, she did report to the Chinatown precinct on October 25, where she was briefly questioned and arrested, but later released.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg decided not to pursue the case.

"The Manhattan district attorney's office has officially declined to prosecute the case against Grace Jabbari because it lacks prosecutorial merit," a spokesperson for Bragg told media. "The matter is now closed and sealed."

Ross Kramer, an attorney for Jabbari, said the charges were "unfortunate and re-traumatizing" for Jabbari and that Bragg's office had "carefully reviewed all the facts of the case and concluded that Ms. Jabbari was the victim, and not the perpetrator," a statement to media published by The Associated Pressread.

However, Majors' civil attorney, Dustin Pusch, criticized the decision.

"Instead of acting on the findings from law enforcement, the district attorney's office unilaterally and without explanation has decided not to prosecute Ms. Jabbari for her misdeeds and the documented injuries she caused Mr. Majors," Pusch told Newsweek by email.

He added Majors was "thankful that the NYPD corroborated his account," but the actor believed it was "a serious injustice" that he would still face trial.

"These recent revelations raise grave questions about the impartiality and transparency of the prosecutors' discretion, due process, and equal protection under the law," Pusch said.

Prior to the incident in Manhattan, Majors and Jabbari were allegedly involved in an incident in London, where he was filming the second season of the Disney+ series, Loki. It led to his ex-girlfriend seeking medical attention.

Jabbari and Majors met while working on the Marvel film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he starred as villain Kang the Conqueror and she worked as a movement coach.

Prior to his arrest, Majors was considered a rising star in Hollywood after his breakout role in HBO's Lovecraft Country. He was named as Marvel's new over-arching villain, Kang, and had also starred opposite Michael B. Jordan in Creed III.