MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York City jury convicted actor Jonathan Majors of assault and harassment Monday, reaching a split verdict on misdemeanors charges that the “Creed III” actor violently manhandled his ex-girlfriend in a private taxi last March.
The six-person jury cleared Majors on two counts — assault in third degree with intent to cause physical injury, and a count of aggravated harassment — but found him guilty on one count of assault in third degree recklessly causing physical injury, and one count of harassment in the second degree.
Jurors deliberated for approximately six hours across three days before reaching the verdict, just after their lunch break on Monday afternoon. Sentencing is tentatively set for Feb. 6, 2024.
The criminal trial in Manhattan Supreme Court centered on allegations brought by Grace Jabbari, a 30-year-old British dancer and choreographer who claimed the “Creed III” actor hit her on the side of the head, bent her arm behind her back and squeezed her finger until it broke during a domestic altercation on the night of March 25, 2023, sparked by evidence his apparent infidelity.
In a statement following the verdict, Majors' defense attorney Priya Chaudhry said the split verdict indicated that jurors were not convinced by Jabbari's version of the night's events.
"It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari's story of what happened in the SUV because they found that mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her," she wrote. "We are grateful for that."
"We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him," Majors attorney said in the statement. "Mr. Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name."
Charging Majors on four misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, New York City prosecutors accused the actor of causing Jabbari “excruciating pain."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg applauded the verdict on Monday afternoon.
"The evidence presented throughout this trial illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion far too common across the many intimate partner violence cases we see each and every day," the district attorney wrote in a statement. "Today, a jury determined that pattern of abuse and coercion culminated with Mr. Majors assaulting and harassing his girlfriend."
During closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office told jurors that street surveillance video of Majors forcing Jabbari back into the car at an intersection on Canal Street — showing Majors “picking her up like a doll and shoving her into the car” — was documented proof of the harassment charge.
Majors has denied the assault and pleaded not guilty all charges. His defense team steadfastly countered that Jabbari was the aggressor in the domestic fracas and Majors was the victim, not the other way around.
During the defense's closing arguments last week, Choudhry repeatedly called Jabbari a “liar,” and told jurors both the NYPD and the district attorney’s office “bought her white lies, her big lies and all her pretty little lies.”
“This entire case is built on Grace’s lies — and, boy, does Grace lie,” Choudhry remarked.
At trial prosecutors showed jurors background evidence relating to what they claim was a pattern of Majors’ emotional abuse and manipulative controlling behavior toward Jabbari, tied to the actor’s explosive temper.
During her witness testimony, Jabbari acknowledged that Majors was under pressure to transform his physique to play an aspiring bodybuilder in a movie project, and as his romantic partner she attempted to tread lightly around him, and avoid igniting his temper while he was undergoing the grueling diet and exercise regimen.
The 34-year-old actor has been set to reprise his role as the supervillain Kang the Conqueror in future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” (2026) and “Avengers: Secret Wars” (2027), but his future with blockbuster comic book movie franchise hangs in limbo the wake of the criminal charges.
Majors’ bodybuilding movie, “Magazine Dreams,” was set to be released in December 2023, but the Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures distributor removed from its release schedule in response to both the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and the assault allegations.
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