Jonathan Majors Discusses Domestic Violence Trial in ‘GMA’ Interview

Jonathan Majors is maintaining that there was no physical abuse during his two-year relationship with former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, during a new interview with Good Morning America that aired Monday, saying he was “absolutely shocked and afraid” when a jury convicted him of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment. 

The former Marvel star, 34, continued to insist that he didn’t know how Jabbari, whom he met on the set of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in summer 2021, obtained her injuries from a fight that broke out over his phone in March 2023. Majors was accused of attacking the professional dancer, who sustained a fractured finger and a gash behind her ear during the fight. 

“I’m standing there, and the verdict comes down, I say, ‘How was that possible? Based off the evidence, based off the prosecution’s evidence, let alone our evidence, how was it possible?’” Majors said. “If you watch those videos and you reverse that, and you saw a Black man chasing a young white girl down the street, screaming, crying — that man is going to be shot and killed in the streets in New York City.” 

Majors spoke publicly for the first time about his domestic violence trial following his March 2023 arrest, sitting down with Good Morning America and ABC News anchor Linsey Davis in a pre-taped interview that aired Monday morning. The appearance comes weeks before Majors is due back in court on February 6 for sentencing, where he faces up to a year in prison. 

“I felt like it was time,” Majors said about his reasoning for speaking out now. “A lot has happened in my personal life and my career and the culture, just about responsibility and coming forward, being brave and giving my part of the story.”

Majors did not take the stand during the highly-publicized trial that stretched two weeks, which ended with him being convicted of attacking Jabbari. Although Majors was cleared of two other charges — intentional assault and aggravated harassment — Marvel quickly announced it would no longer be working with the actor, who was set to reprise his role as the multiverse villain Kang the Conqueror in the franchise’s upcoming film Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. 

In a statement regarding Majors’ interview, Jabbari’s attorney Brittany Henderson tells Rolling Stone that “it is not at all surprising that Mr. Majors continues to take no accountability for his actions. His denigration of our jury system is not dissimilar from the above-the-law attitude that he has maintained throughout this legal process. The timing of these new statements demonstrates a clear lack of remorse for the actions for which he was found guilty and should make the sentencing decisions fairly easy for the Court.” 

“Ms. Jabbari will continue to speak the truth and seek justice in the appropriate forums in a continued effort to respect our legal process,” Henderson adds. 

Majors also discussed the details surrounding one of the trial’s more explosive moments pertaining to a series of incidents that occurred while the former couple lived together in London, where Majors was filming the second season of Loki. 

Prosecutors showed the jury text messages where Majors begged Jabbari not to go to the hospital to receive treatment for a head injury, then later threatened to kill himself. (How Jabbari Jabbari sustained the injury was not given.) “It’s just fake,” Majors wrote in the messages. “And you have, I fear, you have no perspective of what could happen if you go to the hospital. They will ask you questions and as I don’t think you actually protect us it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.” 

The professional dancer and movement coach testified during the trial that she first met Majors on set of the Marvel film, describing the early stages of their relationship as a romantic whirlwind. However, as their relationship progressed, Jabbari said she had grown afraid of Majors. She claimed the actor would allegedly fly into a “rage,” attempt to control her behavior, throw glass objects around her and threaten to commit suicide in the aftermath of such incidents. Routinely breaking down during her testimony, Jabbari explained she felt responsible for Majors’ emotions and grew increasingly isolated from her friends and family because she felt like she was “lying” by hiding aspects of her relationship from them. 

Majors claimed in his GMA interview that he has never been physically abusive during a relationship, “ever.” 

However, in June 2023, Rolling Stone reported that Majors physically and/or emotionally abused two previous romantic partners, according to a dozen sources who knew the women. Majors allegedly strangled one woman he was dating and was mentally and emotionally abusive with her, nine of those sources claim. The second woman allegedly told friends that her relationship with Majors was “emotional torture,” and there were moments of “near violence” where he would “get filled with rage” and “hit something or punch a wall.” Variety previously reported that some of Majors’ former romantic partners who were allegedly abused by him were cooperating with the DA’s case. (Majors denied that he was ever abusive in any relationships.)

As part of the Manhattan prosecutors’ case, other women’s testimonies about their alleged abusive relationships with Majors were prepared as Molineux evidence — a legal term that provides a pathway for prosecutors to use prior events to help prove that a defendant’s conduct is “inextricably interwoven with the charged acts.” Their testimonies are currently under seal and ultimately were not permitted into the trial. 

Some of the Molineux evidence did make its way into the trial following Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry’s cross-examination of Jabbari, which allowed for the head injury texts from September 2022 to be admitted.

Before his arrest, Majors’ star was on the rise. He had achieved box office success with the early 2023 releases of Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And his performance as a lonely bodybuilder with violent fantasies in Magazine Dreams was garnering Oscar buzz after its premiere at Sundance. However, Majors was quickly dropped by both his management and publicist teams in the wake of the accusations, and Searchlight Pictures indefinitely postponed Magazine Dreams’ December 2023 theatrical release. The final blow was Marvel’s decision to part ways with Majors despite previously planning the franchise’s next two films around his character. It is unclear if the studio will recast the role or pivot to a different storyline for the upcoming films.