Jonathan Majors Was Arrested For Domestic Assault And Denies Any Wrongdoing (UPDATE)
In terrible news that probably reflects one of the fastest falls from grace in a while, Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City. According to the NYPD, he was accused of assaulting a 30-year-old woman in a domestic dispute. Horrible, scary, and fucked-up stuff. Excuse me while I go watch videos of turtles eating tiny pancakes.
Jonathan is currently starring in two big movies, Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he plays Kang, a key villain in the Marvel franchise. He first played Kang in the Loki TV series. Before that, he starred in HBO’s Lovecraft County, When We Rise, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. And people have already been talking about an Oscar nomination for his performance in Magazine Dreams, which comes out in December. So basically, he’s at the top of his game, and Twitter has fallen in love with him. Well, that may not have lasted long. TMZ broke the news of his arrest in NYC:
Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City this weekend — and, according to police, he’s being accused of putting hands on a woman … but Jon’s team is calling BS.
Law enforcement sources tell us the actor was booked Saturday morning on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. We’re told cops responded to a call for service around 11 AM ET near the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Our sources tell us the alleged victim had visible injuries — including a laceration behind her ear, redness and marks to her face. She was taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition.
According to TMZ, the woman who came to the police with injuries to her head and neck is the actor’s girlfriend. Supposedly, the incident stemmed from an argument and got to the point where Johnathan allegedly choked her.
Our sources say police were told the girlfriend saw another woman texting Majors, and she confronted him — trying to sneak a peek at his phone. We’re told the alleged victim/GF claims this got Majors mad, and that he allegedly grabbed her hand and allegedly slapped her.
We’re also told the alleged victim claims he put his hands around her neck during this. Our sources say the woman was dropped off somewhere and that JM spent the night elsewhere. It appears the girlfriend went to police the following morning (Sat.) and reported a crime.
He was arrested soon after and charged with misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, and attempted assault and harassment. After the news broke, The Hollywood Reporter reached out to his reps regarding the incident, and they denied the claims:
He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.
He was quickly released by Saturday night and will have to appear in court in May. He was papped leaving the courthouse:
Jonathan Majors leaves NYC courthouse in hat saying FREEDOM after being charged with strangulation pic.twitter.com/g9nLv35heH
— DTN NEWS (@DTNNEWUpdates) March 26, 2023
After Johnathan’s arrest, some people in the industry claimed on Twitter that there have been stories about his alleged abusive ways for years. And that sound you just heard was the sound of every muscled-up actor in Hollywood sliding their headshot and resume to Marvel with the note: A little birdie told me that you might be recasting a certain role soon…
UPDATE: Johnathan Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry claimed in a new statement that they have evidence proving his innocence and that his alleged victim has recanted. via Deadline:
“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently.
Chaudhry said that the “evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”
“All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever,” the lawyer added. “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. We expect these charges to be dropped soon.”
Pic: INSTARImages