Jonathan Majors Discouraged His Ex From Visiting Hospital: ‘They Will Ask You Questions’
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Jonathan Majors previously discouraged his ex-girlfriend from receiving medical treatment during a previously unreported September 2022 incident, according to texts shown during his domestic violence trial on Friday.
“I fear you have no perspective what could happen if you go the hospital, they will ask you questions,” Majors said to his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, according to the texts, per People and Courthouse News. “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.”
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“Why would I tell them what really happened when it’s clear I want to be with you?” Jabbari wrote, according to the texts. “I will tell the doctor I bumped my head. I will not go to the doctor if you don’t feel safe with me doing so … I’m going to give it one more day, but I can’t sleep and I need some stronger pain killers.”
It was the final day of Jabbari’s testimony, after four days on the stand and a tough cross-examination by Majors’ defense team. The Marvel star was arrested March 25 on accusations that he physically assaulted Jabbari after he received a romantic text message from another woman and Jabbari grabbed his phone. Majors, 34, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, and faces up to a year in jail if convicted. The Creed III and Lovecraft Country actor pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.
Throughout her first two days on the stand, Jabbari gave an overview of the couple’s tumultuous relationship that began after meeting on the set of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in summer 2021. Majors would allegedly fly into a “rage,” attempt to control her behavior, throw glass objects around her, and routinely threaten to commit suicide in the aftermath of such incidents. Jabbari testified that she felt responsible for Majors’ emotions and grew increasingly isolated from her friends and family because she felt like she was “lying” by hiding aspects of her relationship from them.
During redirect questioning on Friday, prosecutors asked Jabbari if Majors had ever attempted to stop her from going to the hospital to receive treatment for injuries, and she answered “yes.” Prosecutors then displayed to the jury a text-message conversation between the couple discussing an incident where Jabbari apparently hurt her head and Majors said it “was just fake” and expressed that he didn’t want her to go to the hospital.
The messages correspond to Jabbari’s earlier testimony about a prolonged incident in September 2022, which was tied to Majors becoming upset that Jabbari had gone to a pub with a friend in London. Majors allegedly confronted Jabbari, stomped on her earphones, and told her she was “stupid if she didn’t know what she had done,” Jabbari testified.
Majors then allegedly attempted to kick Jabbari out of the house they shared, “running up” the stairs to throw her belongings in bags and in the trash, as well as hurling and breaking objects in close proximity to Jabbari. In the continued aftermath of the fight, Majors was heard on a voice recording yelling “how dare you” at Jabbari and saying he was a “great man” and he needed a “great woman,” adding that he expected Jabbari to hold herself to the standards of Michelle Obama and Coretta Scott King.
In the aftermath, Majors allegedly threatened Jabbari that he was “considering killing” himself in response to her discussing going to the hospital, according to messages shown in court. “I need love too,” he wrote. “Or maybe I’m such a monster and horrible man, I don’t deserve it. And I should just kill myself. In this way, my existence is miserable, I want to die.”
The fight and messages reflect a specific event that led to a police report being filed in London, according to an evidence list prosecutors noted in an October court filing. The DA said it had obtained “voice recordings,” photos, and texts containing references to “punching,” “physical pain,” and “medical treatment,” all from September 2022. Last month, London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed to Rolling Stone that there is an ongoing investigation into a September 2022 incident that included allegations of “physical assaults.”
Jabbari frequently teared up during her testimony, and pleaded with the court if she had to watch video footage of the actor repeatedly shoving her back into a SUV as she subsequently sought help from strangers on the street. “Do I have to,” Jabbari asked, as she choked up and eventually took a brief break, according to The Daily Beast. Jabbari had testified that she wanted to tell the officers, “help me, please” but “felt scared to do that.” “I didn’t want to get [Majors] in trouble.”
In cross-examination, Majors’ defense attorney Priya Chaudhry questioned Jabbari about her drinking habits, and if she was aware Majors was a devout Christian, wrote poetry, and often carried around a Bible. She also suddenly asked Jabbari about a high school boyfriend who had taken his own life, causing a sustained objection from prosecutors and Jabbari to burst into tears, taking a brief break. The judge instructed Chaudhry to move along in her line of inquiry.
The question comes on the heels of Jabbari’s earlier testimony, where she alleged Majors would routinely talk of killing himself after their fights and calling himself a “monster.” Jabbari says she would plead with Majors to think of his family and shower him with love for him to calm down.
Chaudhry went point by point through the aftermath of the alleged attack, having Jabbari repeatedly demonstrate where she believed Majors had twisted her arm and where she had felt pain on her body. According to prosecutors and Jabbari, Majors allegedly wanted to make his girlfriend “feel pain” when he twisted her arm behind her back, squeezed her fingers, and delivered a blow to the back of her head, before shoving her back into a car. As a result, Jabbari “sustained substantial pain, including a fractured finger, bruising about her body, a laceration behind her right ear, and a bump on her head,” according to court documents.
Chaudhry played various surveillance footage and had Jabbari identify and confirm each time she was seen using her right hand over the course of a two-hour period that night. Jabbari — who already pointed to her experience as a professional dancer and once dancing with a broken rib — told the court she tried to not focus on the pain she was feeling, instead distracting herself by going dancing with three people who had helped her shortly after the alleged attack.
Chaudhry also questioned Jabbari over several minute details of the night, seemingly trying to test Jabbari’s recollection of events, including asking if Jabbari had lime with shots of tequila, how she washed her face that night, and which specific side of a car she exited from. At one point, Judge Michael Gaffey told Chaudhry not to be argumentative when Chaudhry asked Jabbari if the club was loud. Jabbari said she assumed so but she wasn’t sure, prompting Chaudhry to snap back: “Well, you were there, weren’t you?”
The case is expected to stretch at least another week. Although Rolling Stone previously reported that prosecutors had obtained testimonies from several women who previously dated Majors and alleged he was physically and/or emotionally abusive to them during their relationships, it is unclear if they will make their way into the trial. (A dozen sources told Rolling Stone in June that Majors had a history of domestic violence with two previous romantic partners. Majors denied that he was ever abusive in any relationships.)
Before his March arrest, Majors was on track to have his biggest year yet, following the releases Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He was also receiving early Oscar buzz for his performance as a lonely bodybuilder with violent fantasies in Magazine Dreams. However, Majors was quickly dropped by both his management and publicist teams in the wake of the accusations, and Searchlight Pictures indefinitely postponed Magazine Dreams’ December theatrical release. All that seems to be left on Majors’ calling card is Marvel, who was planning on centering the next edition of the franchise on Majors’ character, the multiverse villain Kang the Conqueror, starting with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2026.
UPDATE Dec. 8, 1:05 p.m.: This story has been updated to include testimony and court proceedings from Dec. 8.
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