MCU andCreed IIIstarJonathan Majorshas opted not to testify in his ongoing trial, which finds the actor accused of assaulting his former girlfriend. According to a report fromABC News, Majors’ attorneys have called three witnesses, a doctor, a police officer, and Majors' agent, with their medical expert expressing doubt over the injuries that Grace Jabbari says she suffered back in March.
“I don’t see evidence of a strong blow to the earlobe here because I’d expect to see a significant amount of bruising or swelling and I don’t see that,” Dr. Tammy Weiner told the court.
“Is this photo consistent with a sharp blow to the head?” defense attorney Priya Chaudhry asked while showing the witness a photo of the injury. Weiner simply answered, “No.”
The actor, whose career was on the rise due to roles in the likes ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial continues.
Majors' trial is now underway, setting in motion a court case that will be watched very closely by many, especially bosses at Disney and Marvel Studios. The actor, who plays Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is accused of assaulting his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, in March this year. As the trial opened with statements from the prosecution and defense, became clear quickly that there will be a very different picture painted by the opposing sides of the case, very reminiscent ofthe libel trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
While, viaThe Independent, the prosecutors claimed that Majors would use “physical violence against her to manipulate her, control her, and physically hurt her," in relation to Jabbari, Majors' lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, countered this with claims that, “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.” Chaudhry went on to say that the allegations were a form of “revenge” on the actor done to “ruin Jonathan Majors and to take away everything he had spent his whole life working for” (viaTHR)
The session ended after the first witness, digital evidence analyst for Manhattan District Attorney’s office Ryan Strick, took the stand to discuss a compilation of surveillance video footage from the night of the alleged assault, and the use of iMessages, which were included in the evidence examined ahead of the trial.
The trial will continue tomorrow, and is expected to last around two weeks.
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Legal Battle Casts Shadow on Majors’ Rising Career
Majors, who had been on a meteoric rise after astounding performances in masterpieces likeThe Last Black Man in San FranciscoandLovecraft Country, has felt the sting of these allegations. His PR team at the Lede Company, as well as his management, Entertainment 360, severed ties with him, and his status in Hollywood became instantly marked.
His blossoming career was been dealt a blow as he was dropped from various projects including the feature filmThe Man in My Basement, and advertising campaigns with the U.S. Army and the Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers. Even though anyone is innocent until proven guilty, the entertainment industry is fickle and often afraid of any appearances of controversy.
Of course, Majors' biggest role that hangs in the balance is that of Kang in the MCU. While the actor appeared in the recently releasedsecond season of Loki, there has been no official word from Marvel Studios whether they will be continuing with their original plan, with Majors continuing to appear as the multiverse villain, or will be making some hasty changed. As the MCU’s output is currently on pause for the next year, it seems that everything will be clearer by the time a final decision needs to be made.
This case serves as yet another reminder of the fragile nature of Hollywood fame. With the trial now underway, the industry and its ardent followers wait with bated breath to see how this legal drama unfolds.
