Former MCU star Jonathan Majors recently sat down for his first interview since being found guilty of assault and harassment of ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, but the actor's decision could seriously backfire ahead of his sentencing next month.
During the interview, Majors maintained his innocence, and took zero responsibility for Jabbari's injuries despite being found guilty of two misdemeanour counts of harassment and assault.
“That did not happen,” the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star said to host Lindsey Davis when she asked if he was responsible. When she followed up by asking how he thought Jabbari sustained her injuries, he replied: “I wish to God I knew. That would give clarity, that would give me some type of peace about it.”
In a statement in response to Majors’ interview, Jabbari’s attorney Brittany Henderson said, “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.”
This seems to be the consensus among many industry insiders, who believe Majors' “high risk, low reward” bet could see him spend some time behind bars after all. Observers felt that the likelihood of the actor serving any jail time was very slim... but that was prior to this interview.
Cary London, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney at Shulman & Hill, notes that it is “very unusual” for a defendant to do an interview between conviction and sentencing, with most avoiding such a move in case it negatively influencd the judge’s decision.
“The judge has a wide variety of tools at his disposal at sentencing, including anger management, community service, other programming and jail time. If the defendant says anything to piss off the judge, or insults the integrity of the judicial system, I could easily see the judge giving him a taste of jail,” London says.
Kate Mangels, partner at Kinsella Holley, fells that Majors’ "lack of remorse could play into the judge’s determination."
“From a purely legal standpoint, it would be more wise to wait to give a public statement until after sentencing. But Majors is likely balancing other factors such as public relations and his future career opportunities."
We're not sure this interview did much for Majors' public perception, either, but he is bound to have gained at least a few more supporters who may have been on the fence and now believe he made a brave decision to speak out so soon after his conviction.