Dallas Actor Jonathan Majors Is Found Guilty on Assault Charges

UPDATE (12/18/23): A jury returned two guilty verdicts and two acquittals against Jonathan Majors in a Manhattan courthouse on Monday. Variety reported that Majors was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault. He was also found not guilty on one count of intentional assault and aggravated harassment. Judge Michael Gaffey set a sentencing hearing for Feb. 6, when Majors could receive a punishment ranging from probation to up to a year in jail.

Following the verdict, Marvel Studios announced that it would no longer be working with the actor in the fifth and sixth phases of its Marvel Cinematic Universe. Majors has played several roles in the MCU, the biggest of which was Kang the Conqueror in the first season of the streaming TV series Loki and the film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.Our original story continues below.

Jonathan Majors, the Dallas-born actor and star of HBO's Lovecraft Country and films such as Creed III, lost his talent management and a bunch of TV and film roles in the wake of his domestic abuse charges in New York last March.

A three-month investigation conducted by Rolling Stone uncovered allegations of toxic and abusive behavior going back to his days in college.

The magazine spoke to more than 40 people who knew Majors personally either from school, work or as friends. Around two dozen of those sources "describe Majors as being a complicated, unpredictable and sometimes violent man who can switch from charming to cold in a flash," according to reporters Cheyenne Roundtree and Althea Legaspi.

Majors' first abuse allegations surfaced in April when Variety reported that New York police had arrested him on March 25 following a 911 call he made expressing concern about his girlfriend who shared an apartment with him in Chelsea. His ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, told police that Majors struck her at their apartment after returning from a bar. Police noticed marks on the woman, took her to a hospital for treatment and took Majors into custody on two misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault, second-degree aggravated harassment, second-degree harassment and third-degree attempted assault.

Following Majors' June 20 court appearance, he filed a complaint against Jabbari in NYPD's Chinatown precinct accusing her of scratching and slapping his face on a street corner and described her behavior that night as "drunk and hysterical." Majors' lawyer Priya Chaudhry and three NYPD sources told The New York Times that police found "probable cause" to investigate Jabbari's behavior as well.

The arrest has cost him more than just his management. He's also lost some huge film and TV roles just after his introduction as the villainous Kang in Walt Disney Studios' lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe. Deadline reported that he's been dropped from the film adaptation of author Walter Mosley's The Man in My Basement and early consideration for the Otis Redding biopic Otis and Zelma. He was also contracted for an ad campaign for the Texas Rangers baseball team, but he's since been dropped from that project.

Majors' attorneys denied the allegations, but since his arrest, more allegations have come to light describing Majors' behavior as emotionally and even physically abusive. Nine sources told Rolling Stone that his relationships with two unidentified women exhibited signs of emotional abuse, and one of them ended with "him strangling her."

The sources also stated that Majors "exploited his power in the relationship" to prevent one woman from leaving him. One source told the magazine that Majors "wanted the woman to be submissive to him, demanding he be in charge of everything from what they ate to who the partner could interact with."

A former classmate of Majors' when he attended Yale describes his behavior as "very problematic for his class" and describes a moment when the two were playfully wrestling that ended when Majors slapped him across the face. The schoolmate confronted Majors on his behaviors, but "Majors allegedly shrugged it off and acted like it wasn't a big deal," according to the report.

"He can be very charismatic and really gentleman-like and sweet but then he could also be really cold, scary and violent," the schoolmate told the magazine. "He was someone who would use his physicality to intimidate."

Majors' career took off after he graduated, but his alleged behavior followed him throughout his career. Several sources in the Rolling Stone investigation describe working in a fearful atmosphere when Majors was on set. One production source called Majors' actions "borderline abusive."

During production on his upcoming film Magazine Dreams, several production sources describe Majors reacting to them in physical ways. One person said Majors pushed them away from him while yelling at a second person that followed with a complaint. Majors' attorney, Dustin A. Pusch, released a statement describing the on-set behavior as "an immersive Method acting style."

"While that can be misconstrued as rudeness at times, those who know Mr. Majors and work in the industry have attested to his dedication to his craft as well as his kindness."

Haley Carter dated Majors from ages 13 through 18 and stated to Rolling Stone on the record, "After 20 years of knowing him, I can tell you who Jonathan is. He did not do these things."

Brad Edwards, the attorney for the woman in the New York City domestic abuse case, described his client in the report  as being "frightened to death of Mr. Majors.

"I think now it should be obvious to everyone why," Edwards said.