Jonathan Majors' assault trial is now underway, with defence and prosecution delivering their opening statements on Monday - and, as expected, both recounting very different versions of the events in question.
The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Qauntumania and Loki star was arrested in New York on March 25 when police responded to a 911 call. A 30-year-old woman, since named as then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, alleged that she had been assaulted by Majors, with police noting that she had sustained minor injuries.
Majors later filed a cross-complaint against Jabbari, alleging that she attacked him, but prosecutors on the case later informed police and defence that they would not be prosecuting Jabbari in relation to the incident.
According to the prosecution, "Majors used cruelty and manipulation to control Grace Jabbari, and when his girlfriend of two years discovered that the acclaimed actor was cheating on her with another woman, the psychological abuse turned physical."
Both sides acknowledge that Jabbari spotting a text message on Majors' phone is what led to the incident. Prosecutor Michael Perez claims that, when Jabbari allegedly took the phone out of his hands to see who sent the message, Majors grabbed the right side of Jabbari’s body and pried her finger off the phone to retrieve it. The prosecutor said this caused bruising, swelling and substantial pain.
Perez also recounted that, after their confrontation spilled on to a street in Chinatown, Majors "violently shoved Jabbari back inside their chauffeured ride, throwing her like a football back into the Escalade” (this was caught on camera).
However, Majors’ criminal defence lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, alleges that it was Jabbari who assaulted Majors, "ripping two buttons off his coat and tearing the pocket with her bare hands.”
The defence concludes its statement with the following:
“Mr. Majors’ lifetime of hard work was coming to fruition and his career seemed unstoppable until […] he ended his relationship with Jabbari and she made these false allegations. [This is] a man who spent 30 years working hard to get to where he was on March 25. A man with the world at his fingertips. This is a case about the end of a relationship, not about a crime… at least not one that Mr. Majors committed. In revenge, she made these false allegations to ruin Mr. Majors and take away everything he spent his life working for.”
The trial is expected to last two weeks, and will include testimony from Jabbari. It's unclear if Majors will take the stand.
Majors has already been dropped from several high-profile projects, as well as his management company, Entertainment 360, and public relations team, The Lede Company. Marvel Studios has yet to take any action or comment on the situation, but that is likely to change, depending on the outcome of this trial.
There are rumors that Kevin Feige and co. might be looking into potential Kang replacements, but Majors featured prominently in season 2 of Loki, and has also been positioned as the primary villain of the next Avengers movie (and potentially the next phase of the MCU). Again, that could all change very quickly.