Jonathan Majors is seen in court during a hearing in his domestic violence case, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in New York. Majors’ domestic violence case will go to trial Aug. 3, the judge said Tuesday, casting him in a real-life courtroom drama as his idled Hollywood career hangs in the balance. (AP Photo/Steven Hirsch, Pool)
NEW YORK — Actor Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence case will go to trial Aug. 3, a Manhattan judge said Tuesday, casting him in a real-life courtroom drama as his idled Hollywood career hangs in the balance.
Majors’ accuser alleges he pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back, struck and cut her ear and pushed her into a vehicle, causing her to fall backwards, during a March confrontation in New York City. The woman was treated at a hospital for minor head and neck injuries, police said.
Majors’ attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said Tuesday that she provided prosecutors with video evidence showing the female accuser attacked her client, not the other way around. The woman has not been named in court records.
Majors had been a fast-rising Hollywood star with major roles in recent hits like “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” But in the wake of his arrest, the U.S. Army pulled TV commercials starring Majors, saying it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations. Disney last month postponed Majors’ upcoming Marvel film “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” from May 2025 to May 2026. He is also slated to appear in “Avengers: Secret Wars” in 2027.
Judge Rachel Pauley wished the actor “best of luck” as she scheduled his trial. “Yes, ma’am,” Majors said, standing with his lawyers in front of Pauley’s bench in Manhattan’s domestic violence court.
Majors, 33, is charged with misdemeanors, including assault, and could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted.
Tuesday’s hearing was his first time in court since just after his March 25 arrest in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. He appeared by video at a hearing last month where prosecutors said they were revising the assault charge to reflect the accuser’s perspective. A police officer’s account was used in the original version.
Before his case was called Tuesday, Majors watched from the courtroom gallery with his lawyers and his girlfriend Meagan Good, who stars in the “Shazam!” movies, as two men in unrelated cases had their domestic violence charges thrown out.
Chaudhry urged the Manhattan district attorney’s office to do the same for Majors and to instead charge his 30-year-old accuser, “holding her accountable for her crimes.” In lieu of a decision, Chaudhry requested that Majors’ case go to trial as soon as possible.
Chaudhry said she’s provided prosecutors with “compelling evidence” of Majors’ innocence, including video showing the woman assaulting the actor and Majors running away from her.
“We also provided photographs illustrating the injuries she inflicted on Mr. Majors and photos of his clothing torn as a direct consequence of (the woman’s) violent actions,” Chaudhry said.
She has also accused police and prosecutors of racial bias against Majors, who is Black. She said a white police officer got in Majors’ face and taunted him when he tried showing the officer injuries that he said the woman caused.
Before scheduling Majors’ trial, the judge issued a sealed decision that prompted Chaudhry to withdraw court papers she’d filed challenging the case. Pauley handed copies of her ruling to Majors’ lawyers and prosecutors, but did not discuss any details in open court.
Majors, who plays villain Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel films, carried his personal Bible and a poetry journal into court. He smiled at times, but said little other than his brief exchange with the judge, which lasted all of three minutes.
Majors must continue to abide by a protection order barring him from contact with his accuser. A warrant could be issued for his arrest if he does not show up for his trial date, the judge said.