Marvel has fired Jonathan Majors as Kang after the actor was found guilty of assault and harassment by a six-person jury in New York state.
Update: That didn’t take long. Shortly after Jonathan Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment comes the news that Marvel has fired the actor. Majors had played Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the intention that he would be the big bad of the Multiverse Saga. It remains to be seen if Marvel will recast the role or if they will go in another direction. What do you think they should do?
—
The gavel has fallen for Jonathan Majors, with the actor’s highly-publicized trial concluding in unfortunate circumstances. A New York jury found Majors guilty of assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment. After more than four hours of deliberation over three days, a six-person jury submitted its verdict. He was found not guilty of one of the counts of assault in the third degree and not guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
Portions of the following report, including details about the incident in question, are taken from The Hollywood Reporter:
During the trial, Majors faced four charges of assault, aggravated assault, and harassment. On the evening in question, Majors called 911 on March 25, saying he found his ex-partner, Grace Jabbari, unconscious in their apartment. Police arrested Majors after discovering injuries on Jabbari, including a laceration behind her ear and a bruised and fractured finger. Majors denied any wrongdoing and pled not guilty to all charges.
When Jabbari took the stand during the trial’s first day, she said Majors caused the injuries during an altercation in a car. Jabbari says the dispute began when she saw a text on Majors’s phone that read: “Oh how I wish to be kissing you.” Jabbari testified that while trying to confirm her suspicions, a violent episode occurred. Trying to wrestle the phone away from Majors, Jabbari says the Creed III actor pried her finger from the phone, then grabbed her right arm and hand, twisted her forearm, and struck her head to keep her from obtaining the phone.
The first three charges are misdemeanor offenses and related to alleged incidents in the car. The fourth charge of harassment, which is a violation, relates to an allegation that Majors threw Jabbari back into the car as she tried to exit the vehicle. The defense alleged that he put her back in the car to prevent her from running into traffic. This part of the incident is captured on surveillance video, while the events inside the car are hidden from view.
Majors’ guilty verdict comes during the most successful year of his acting career. Majors began 2023 with Marvel’s Ant-Man: Quantumania, which introduces Majors as Kang the Conquerer, a Thanos-level villain for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Majors followed his Marvel debut with a starring role in the Michael B. Jordan-directed Creed sequel, Creed III. Majors also stars in Marvel’s Loki Season 2, reprising his role as Kang and digging the hole deeper for Marvel. After his arrest, Majors was dropped by his publicity firm, the Lede Company, and managers at Management 360. Adding insult to injury, Fox Searchlight removed Magazine Dreams from its release calendar.
Majors’ future remains uncertain after today’s verdict. In addition to the altercation in and out of the private car, a series of damning texts between Majors and Jabbari suggests a pattern of abuse related to the couple. In the texts, it looks as if Majors tried to discourage Jabbari from seeking medical attention for her injuries. “They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something,” Majors wrote.
“At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office, we are committed to centering survivors in all of our work,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement soon after the verdict was delivered this afternoon. “The evidence presented throughout this trial illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion far too common across the many intimate partner violence cases we see each and every day. Today, a jury determined that pattern of abuse and coercion culminated with Mr. Majors assaulting and harassing his girlfriend. We thank the jury for its service and the survivor for bravely telling her story despite having to relive her trauma on the stand.”
