Jonathan Majors leaves a courtroom at the Manhattan criminal courts in New York, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. The actor is accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend as the two struggled over a phone in the back seat of a chauffeured car. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK (AP) – Jonathan Majors was convicted Monday of assaulting his former girlfriend after a two-week trial that the actor hoped would salvage his damaged reputation and restore his status as an emerging Hollywood star.
A Manhattan jury found Majors, 34, guilty of assault and harassment. He was also acquitted of a different assault charge and of aggravated harassment. Majors, who was asked to stand and face the jurors as the verdict was read, showed no immediate reaction, looking slightly downward.
The charges stemmed from a dispute between the “Creed III” actor and his girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, that began in the backseat of a chauffeured car and spilled into the streets of Manhattan one night last March.
Jabbari, a 30-year-old British dancer, accused Majors of an attack inside the vehicle that left her in “excruciating” pain. She said he struck her in the head with his open hand, twisted her arm behind her back and squeezed her middle finger until it fractured.
Majors’ lawyers said she was the aggressor, alleging that she flew into a jealous rage after reading a text message on his phone sent by another woman. They said Jabbari had spread a “fantasy” to take down the actor, who was only trying to regain his phone and get away safely.
The verdict dealt a major blow to Majors, who was on the verge of Hollywood stardom until his arrest in March sent his career into a tailspin.
