In his first television interview since a jury found him guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend, Marvel star Jonathan Majors said he was “shocked and afraid” after the verdict.
In a sitdown with ABC News on Monday’s episode of Good Morning America, Majors admitted that he could not understand how the jury reached a guilty verdict after being presented with all of the evidence.
“I’m standing there and the verdict comes down. I say, ‘How is that possible based off the evidence, based off the prosecution’s evidence, let alone our evidence? How is that possible?'” he said, adding that he was “shocked and afraid” when the verdict was handed down.
Majors, who denied all of the allegations against him, was found guilty of one count of third-degree assault and one count of harassment but acquitted of another count of assault and one aggravated harassment count by a Manhattan jury on Monday.
Grace Jabbari alleged the actor slapped her and threw her into the car after she exited it, grabbed her hand so hard he fractured her middle finger, and also allegedly struck her face with an open hand. Video surveillance footage was played to the jury and released online, showing Majors shoving her into a vehicle. He then fled the scene as Jabbari chased after him.
Jonathan Majors is speaking out for the first time since his conviction in a domestic violence trial in an interview with ABC News: pic.twitter.com/bYpwZ4qbfq
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 8, 2024
In court, prosecutors denounced Majors’ “cruel and manipulative pattern of psychological and physical abuse” of his ex-girlfriend.
Photographs of Jabbari’s fractured finger and cut behind her ear were shown to the jury and circulated online. The injuries were allegedly obtained during their altercation in a car in New York, but Majors says he has no idea how the injuries occurred.
“I wish to God I knew. That would give me clarity, that would give me some type of peace about it,” he explained. “I’m an athlete. I’m a sportsman. I know my body. I know how it moves. I know my strength, or lack thereof, you know? None of that was employed on her,” he said.
Majors says he, too, suffered injuries—a scratch on his hand and one on his cheeks, which bled overnight.
“If you watch those videos and you reverse that and you saw a Black man chasing a young white girl down the street screaming and crying, that man is going to be shot and killed in the streets of New York City,” Majors said of the now-viral surveillance footage.
Now, the Hollywood actor is fighting for his career. Shortly after the verdict was announced, Marvel cut ties with Majors. He will no longer play supervillain Kang in the movie studio’s universe.
Marvel Studios Drops Jonathan Majors Following Guilty Verdict for Harassment and Assault https://t.co/7GxURAjSbL
— Variety (@Variety) December 18, 2023
Still, the actor holds out hope. When asked whether he believes he will be starring in Hollywood movies in the future, he responded, “Heck yeah, I do. I pray I do.”
Majors is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6. He faces up to a year in prison for the assault conviction and a potential sentence of 15 days in jail and a $250 fine for the harassment conviction.
