Actor Jonathan Majors on Monday said he reacted with “shock” last month when a jury found him guilty of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend.
Speaking in his first interview since his conviction, the former Marvel star also continued to insist he was not responsible for hurting his ex, Grace Jabbari, during an altercation last March. Majors, 34, was found guilty of one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment in connection with the incident but was acquitted of two further counts of assault and aggravated harassment.
“I was absolutely shocked and afraid,” Majors said of his reaction to the verdict in an ABC News interview. “I’m standing there, and the verdict comes down, and I say: ‘How is—how is that possible based off the evidence? Based off the prosecution’s evidence, let alone our evidence, how is that possible?’”
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Majors said he plans to appeal but is speaking out now as “part of healing.” “It’s about responsibility and coming forward and being brave and giving my part of the story,” he said.
At trial, jurors heard that the incident began when Jabbari saw that Majors had received a text from another woman. Jabbari said she’d tried to grab Majors’ phone when she saw the message saying “I wish I was kissing you.” She alleged Majors then twisted her arm behind her back—claims that Majors denied.
Interviewer Linsey Davis asked how it was possible that Jabbari had sustained injuries including a fractured finger and a cut behind her ear during the altercation if Majors wasn’t responsible. “I wish to God I knew,” Majors said. “That would give clarity. That would give me some type of peace about it.”
He said, referring to Jabbari, that while he had been “reckless with her heart,” he had not “ever” struck a woman. “I’m an athlete,” he said. “I’m a sportsman. I know my body. I know how it moves. I know my strength, or lack thereof, you know? None of that was employed on her.”
Majors also addressed an audio recording played in court. The clip, which Jabbari made with her phone, captured Majors yelling at her, saying she should act like Michelle Obama or Coretta Scott King. “I’m a great man. A great man. I do great things for my culture and for the world,” Majors says in the recording. “The woman that supports me needs to be a great woman.”
“It was me trying to give an analogy of what it is I’m trying to be, you know, these great men—Martin [Luther King Jr.], President Obama—and trying to give a reference point to that,” Majors said in the ABC News interview. “One of the things I also say is like, I need her—in that case Grace—to make the same sacrifices I am making.”
Returning to the theme, Majors said his new girlfriend, actress Meagan Good, has “held me down like a Coretta [Scott King],” adding that he feels “so blessed to have her.”
Asked if he felt any responsibility for Jabbari’s injuries, Majors was initially evasive. “I shouldn’t have been in the car,” he said. “I shouldn’t have stepped out of the relationship. I shouldn’t have been in the relationship. If I’m not in the car, none of this is happening. If I leave the relationship, none of this is happening. If I’m man enough or brave enough to say, ‘I want to see somebody else,’ or ‘I’m done now,’ I’m not in that car. We’re not here. I’m responsible for those things.”
Pressed to answer about responsibility for Jabbari’s injuries, Majors finally answered: “I can’t say that. None of her injuries.”
Jabbari’s attorney Brittany Henderson said in a statement that it is “not at all surprising that Mr. Majors continues to take no accountability for his actions.” “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,” Henderson added.
Majors is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6.
