Jonathan Majors: A Timeline

Actor Jonathan Majors faces as much as a year in jail if found guilty of a charge of third-degree assault. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office handed down that new charge in Majors’ domestic violence case in a May 9 hearing, six weeks after New York police arrested the Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star for allegedly assaulting a woman.

Majors maintains his innocence. His attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said this new charge is further proof of “the racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system.”

Majors started the year with three highly praised performances in movies that showcased his versatility. After his arrest in March, he lost multiple endorsement deals and roles in future films.

Here’s a look at everything that’s happened so far.

Jan. 20, 2023: Magazine Dreams, in which Majors plays a bodybuilder, debuts at the Sundance Film Festival. Critics give the film itself mixed reviews, but they agree on one thing: Majors puts on a great performance.

Feb. 17, 2023: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in which Majors plays Kang the Conqueror, premieres. Reviews range from mixed to negative, but critics laud Majors as the best thing about the film. His Kang role is a variant of He Who Remains, another character he played in the Season One finale of the MCU Disney+ show Loki. This film positions Kang as the next big villain of the MCU, on par with Thanos.

March 3, 2023: Creed III, in which Majors plays antagonist Damian Anderson, premieres. Again, critics single out Majors’ performance with praise.

March 23, 2023: NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour publishes a lengthy sit-down interview with Majors. He discusses his rise to fame in Hollywood and his definition of masculinity.

March 25, 2023: The NYPD arrests Majors after he allegedly assaults a woman. Original charges include strangulation and harassment, and police statements say: “A preliminary investigation determined that a 33-year-old male was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old female. The victim informed police she was assaulted. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”

The DA’s complaint would later say Majors struck the woman “about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear,” that he allegedly forcefully took her hand “causing swelling, bruising, and substantial pain to her finger,” and that he “put his hand on her neck.”

His representatives say he has done nothing wrong.

March 26, 2023: The U.S. Army pulls its ad campaign starring Majors. The “Be All You Can Be” campaign aimed to recruit Gen Z youth.  

“We recently released two ads in which Mr. Majors appears. While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete,” the Army’s public affairs chief says.

March 27, 2023: Majors’ legal team says he was the one who made the 911 call for a domestic dispute that prompted the police response. The Manhattan D.A.’s office formally charges Majors with several counts of third-degree assault, a single count of second-degree aggravated harassment, three counts of third-degree attempted assault and one count of second-degree harassment.

“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows,” defense lawyer Chaudhry says.

March 30, 2023: Majors’ crisis PR rep (and Chaudhry’s husband) Andrew Bourke releases a batch of text messages that Bourke says proves Majors’ innocence and victimhood.

Bourke says the texts from the woman to Majors say that she told police “this was not an attack” and “I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone.”

Other messages from the woman to Majors allegedly read:

“Please let me know you’re okay when you get this. They assured me that you won’t be charged. They said they had to arrest you as protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight. I’m so angry that they did. And I’m sorry you’re in this position. Will make sure nothing happens about this. … I love you.”

“I know you have the best team and there’s nothing to worry about I just want you to know that I’m doing all I can my end. I also said to tell the judge to know that the origin of the [911] call was to do with me collapsing and passing out and your worry as my partner due to our communication prior.”

April 17, 2023: Majors’ management team at Entertainment 360 and his PR team at The Lede Company drop him. He maintains his representation by WME. 

In addition, Majors is dropped from or no longer considered for the following film projects:

• The film adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel The Man in My Basement
• The Otis Redding biopic Otis and Zelma.

Majors still remains attached to the following projects:

• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
• Season Two of Loki
• Spike Lee’s Da Understudy
• 48 Hours in Vegas, in which Majors would play Dennis Rodman.

Deadline reports Majors did not attend this year’s Met Gala after a “mutual agreement” with Valentino.

Majors also steps down from the Gotham Film and Media Institute board as well as its Sidney Poitier Initiative.

April 18, 2023: The Texas Rangers pull Majors, who went to high school in the Dallas area, from its ad campaign set to coincide with its City Connect jersey launch.

April 19, 2023: More alleged victims come forward to the Manhattan DA’s office saying Majors abused them.

April 26, 2023: Searchlight, which acquired Magazine Dreams out of Sundance and set the film for a December 2023 release date, makes no mention of the film at CinemaCon, as Majors’ first court date looms.

April 27, 2023: Majors agrees to a restraining order from the alleged victim until Majors’ next court hearing. 

“This is standard in cases such as this, and we consented because Mr. Majors wants nothing to do with the woman who assaulted him,” Chaudhry says.

Chaudhry says there are witness statements, forensic evidence and police bodycam footage that prove Majors’ innocence. Officials confirm Majors called 911 on March 25.

May 8, 2023: Majors appears virtually in court. He does not enter a plea for the new third-degree assault charge. His next hearing is June 13. He must appear in person or risk another arrest.

Chaudhry calls this latest charge a “witch hunt.”

“This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims,” Chaudhry is quoted as saying in Deadline. “Instead of dismissing the allegations in the face of the woman’s clear lies, the DA has adjusted the charges to match the woman’s new lies. To be clear, there are no new charges against Mr. Majors.

“Now, we have obtained even more video evidence of his innocence, but we are hesitant to share it, for fear the DA will tip the woman off to change her story again.

“The criminal justice system is saturated with explicit and implicit bias. When Mr. Majors showed a white police officer the injuries the woman caused him, the white officer got in Mr. Majors’ face and taunted him, saying that if the officer were to slap Mr. Majors, the officer wouldn’t break his finger. None of the white officers present investigated the assault of Mr. Majors. Worse, the District Attorney has not indicated any intention to pursue charges against the woman, or even investigate the truth.”

What’s next?

We’ll see what happens at Majors’ next court date on June 13.

If your first thought is to wonder how alleged domestic violence will affect your favorite comic book franchise, I beg you to go touch some grass. Still, Marvel hasn’t said whether Majors will continue in his role as Kang the Conqueror. Filming is complete on the second season of Loki. Kang’s many variants were a big part of the post-credits scenes for Quantumania, but we don’t know how much footage exists of him in future Marvel movies.

Many fans are theorizing about potential recasting or what else this could mean for the MCU after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. 

Kevin Feige right now is without question trying to figure out a way to explain that High Evolutionary is a Kang variant to bring Chukwudi Iwuji to replace Jonathan Majors after his performance pic.twitter.com/wW5qUxomgS

— Nicholas (@NicholasJLevi) May 8, 2023

Many fans are also comparing Majors’ situation to that of Ezra Miller over at DC.

Miller, who plays Barry Allen/The Flash in Justice League and the upcoming The Flash movie, has been linked to several incidents of alleged grooming, abuse and harassment, and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor unlawful trespassing charge in January 2023. DC boss James Gunn has said Miller’s future with the franchise depends on what happens with Miller in recovery.