Jury finds Jonathan Majors guilty of two counts in assault trial
US actor Jonathan Majors leaves Manhattan Criminal Court on August 03, 2023.
Fatih Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Jonathan Majors was found guilty on Monday of two of the four counts against him.
The nine-person jury found the actor guilty of misdemeanor assault and harassment in connection with a March 25 incident that erupted, according to Manhattan prosecutors, between Majors and his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.
While testifying, Jabbari said she spotted a text on the actor’s phone from another woman, that’s when she grabbed his phone and she claims he physically assaulted her.
Majors has maintained his innocence via his attorney Priya Chaudhry.
He faces up to one year in jail.
NBC News has reached out to Chaudhry for comment.
During the two-week trial, Majors’ ex-girlfriend Jabbari took the stand for several days. Majors did not testify.
Jabarri testified that throughout their relationship she was “scared” of Majors and also feared he would hurt himself if she left him.
In their opening statement, prosecutors said Majors slapped Jabbari in the face and fractured the middle finger on one of her hands after she took his phone. Street surveillance footage from the night shows Jabbari getting out of the SUV and Majors picking her up and putting her back into the car. Prosecutors claim the actor threw her back inside the vehicle “like a football.”
Majors, 34, has denied striking Jabbari and his lawyers contend he was actually the victim, and suffered scratches.
Majors’ attorney says Jabarri went out dancing with strangers after the alleged abusive encounter. But Jabarri claims she was seeking comfort by those who came to her aid on a street corner following the assault.
Chaudhry has also suggested that the fact that Majors is Black and Jabbari is white is the reason he — and not she — was arrested after the alleged altercation.
The star of “Creed III” and the critically acclaimed 2019 independent film “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” Majors’ rapid rise to superstardom was stalled in March after the allegations emerged.
Since then, some of Majors’ work has been pulled or postponed, including the highly anticipated release of the Sundance award-winning film “Magazine Dreams.” He is also starring in the upcoming Marvel film, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.”
