The misdemeanor assault and harassment trial involving actor Jonathan Majors and his ex, Grace Jabbari, commenced on Monday, Dec. 4, with ludicrous accusations already flying out.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Assistant District Attorney Michael Perez proclaimed Majors told Jabbari she needed to “live up to standards of Coretta Scott King and Michelle Obama,” referring to himself as a “great man.”
He reportedly made this statement in September 2022 after Jabbari went out for drinks with a friend, and the two returned to the home she shared with Majors.
Prosecutors stated the 34-year-old Creed III actor became enraged and began yelling and throwing things at his then-girlfriend, who started to record what he was saying, including the King and Obama statement.
Commenters under the Neighborhood Talk post trolled Majors.
“Why do y’all date…but then expect…and then also belittle…never mind.”
“Dating a YT woman and then wanting her to perform in ways that Black women do is wild but totally believable.”
“Lmafo, I just cackled ’cause that’s high-end niggatry.”
“Her and her lawyer can go to hell.”
“His cornbread ain’t done in the middle.”
“Trying to order Burger King at McDonald’s is crazy.”
“Huh…it wasn’t no white women names he could have came up with? I mean, them were hard shoes for her to fill.”
Opening statements from both sides gave conflicting accounts of the incident, with both pointing the blame at the opposer.
Prosecutors strived to paint Majors as the abuser and manipulator in the relationship, bringing up the March 25 incident that landed them in court. They argued that the couple had taken a cab home after having dinner in Brooklyn around midnight. Jabbari, a professional dancer, noticed a troubling text on Majors’ phone from a woman named Cleopatra, allegedly reading, “Wish I was kissing you right now.”
Jabbari grabbed his phone, reportedly causing the Devotion actor to respond by grabbing and twisting her forearm and striking her right ear. He allegedly threw her back in the car “like a football” when she attempted to leave.
The 30-year-old woman reportedly conversed with three strangers on the street before returning to the car and clutching Majors’ jacket to stop him from leaving. The actor booked a stay at a hotel, and Jabbari went clubbing with those three strangers to “block out the experience.” She received a text from Majors saying they were done.
She returned to his apartment and called multiple times before ingesting two sleeping pills.
When Majors returned, he saw his top lock locked and summoned the handyman to unlock it, only to find his girlfriend on the floor. Prosecutors claimed he called 911 and “manipulated her and trained her to stay silent” about where her injuries were.
Majors’ defense, Priya Chaudhry, denied the prosecutor’s account and claimed Jabbari physically assaulted him in the car, including slapping and clawing at him. He reportedly didn’t throw her in the car “like a football” but “scooped her up and put her back in the car” to prevent her from running into traffic.
Chaudhry said Majors attempted to evade Jabbari as she grabbed his coat. He ultimately checked himself into a hotel and returned home to find his girlfriend.
His attorneys stated he called 911 out of concern, adding that the dancer was “confused” and “nearly unintelligible,” repeating “I don’t know” 19 times.
When police asked about her injuries, she reportedly blamed Majors.
She claimed Jabbari lied to police to “ruin Jonathan Majors and to take away everything he had spent his whole life working for,” Chaudhry said. “This is a case about the end of a relationship, not about a crime, at least not one that Mr. Majors committed.”
Chaudhry called her client a “father, a poet, a devoted, practicing Christian and an actor.”
