Actor Jonathan Majors, a rising Hollywood star, was found guilty Monday of assaulting a former girlfriend after a trial in New York that will cost him his role as a villain in Marvel films, said American media and a source close to the case.
The 34-year-old actor, who starred in “Creed III” and played Kang in the Marvel Studios (Disney) series, was found guilty of third-degree assault, the least serious level for this type of indictment, and harassment, by a jury of six people. He was acquitted on two other charges.
His sentence, which could be up to a year in prison, will be pronounced on February 6. But the Marvel franchise has already decided to no longer work with the actor, American media reported, which was confirmed to AFP by a source close to the matter.
The actor was arrested on March 30 after an argument in a car with his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, who testified during the trial in Manhattan court.
According to her testimony, the actor attacked her to get her phone back after an argument started in a car, grabbing her arm violently and hitting her head. Jonathan Majors’ lawyers have pleaded his total innocence.
For Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, the trial on the contrary demonstrated that Jonathan Majors had “become accustomed” to exerting “psychological and emotional pressure” on his girlfriend, which resulted in the attack on March 30.
Revealed in particular with his role in “The last black man in San Francisco” (2019), the actor also played in “Da 5 Bloods” by Spike Lee (2020) then in the series “Lovecraft Country” on HBO and “Creed III”, the continuation of the Rocky series.
He then set foot in the Marvel universe with the series “Loki”, and the film “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, in which he played the role of villain, Kang.
Before his trial, he was scheduled to appear in two upcoming films in the franchise, “Avengers: The Kang Dinasty,” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
