Hollywood: What we know before the Jonathan Majors trial

For a moment, it seemed impossible to escape Jonathan Majors.

The actor opined on a gentler kind of masculinity on NPR, introduced awards alongside Michael B. Jordan at the 2023 Oscars, and flexed his impressive physique on the cover of Men's Health magazine, in which he bragged about using real weights in his movie scenes.

Fans thirsted unabashedly over the "Creed III" star, who began winning audiences over with performances in the 2019 indie film "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" and the 2020 HBO sci-fi thriller series "Lovecraft Country." By 2023, after appearing in the critically acclaimed Marvel TV show "Loki" and the film "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Majors was set to be the next major villain anchoring the latest batch of Marvel superhero movies.

But that meteoric rise came to a screeching halt in March when the 33-year-old actor was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault, harassment and strangulation following a "domestic dispute" with his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.

The actor has largely been out of the public eye since then. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 3.

The strangulation charge was dropped, and Majors has pleaded not guilty on the other four. His lawyer, meanwhile, has repeatedly cast blame on Jabbari.

Here's everything we know about the case.

The stakes are high for Majors

Majors made a name for himself with a sweep of diverse and commanding roles. But his biggest turns were yet to come: With his new role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kang the Conqueror, a multiversal time-traveler, Majors would be the fulcrum around which the next phase of the enormously profitable Marvel movies and shows would revolve.

But Majors' management company and PR firm - Entertainment 360 and Lede Company - both dropped the actor as a client shortly after the charges, according to Deadline. Neither company responded to The Washington Post's request for comment by press time.

The Marvel actor's prospects have also been soured by the allegations and the arrest, Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone said. This is more than a trial, he said. "This is a battle for Mr. Majors's career."

He's retained a high-powered attorney

Priya Chaudhry, one of the Hollywood Reporter's top lawyers "for death, divorce and other disasters," represents Majors.

Chaudhry has previously represented Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis, who was found by a jury to be liable in a civil trial for three counts of raping and sexually abusing a New York City woman in 2013. Haggis was ordered to pay at least $7.5 million to the woman.

She also represented "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah, who faced charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to a telemarketing scam and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Shah pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 6.5 years behind bars.

So far, attorney Priya Chaudhry is the only one talking

Neither Jabbari nor Majors have made public statements since the March incident. But Chaudhry has been a vocal advocate for Majors since the arrest, arguing the actor is not just "provably innocent" of assaulting Jabbari, but is the victim in their dispute.

The lawyer shared what she said were text messages from Jabbari to Majors after the alleged altercation. (The Post has not been able to independently verify that these texts were between Jabbari and Majors.)

"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," reads the alleged text from Jabbari, which TMZ published after, the outlet stated, receiving them from Chaudhry.

In April, Chaudhry sent a letter to the district court detailing Majors's account of what happened. It included security camera screen captures of a person who is allegedly Jabbari at a club after the alleged assault. (Chaudhry also sent the letter to outlets such as TMZ and the New York Post, which published the images.)

Chaudhry also sent the media a statement in June claiming to have video evidence of Jabbari's "frenzied attack" on Majors, as well as photographs of Majors's alleged injuries. She did not share the actual video nor the photographs with The Post. Jabbari's talent agency, Simon & How, did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Jabbari also did not respond to a request for comment.

In most cases, attorneys opt not to share so much information about their client before trial, said Paul Rothstein, a professor at Georgetown Law. But the calculus is different for public figures, for whom defense attorneys are not just trying to win a case, but protect a reputation.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has been silent

Multiple people who claim Majors has abused them have come forward to the Manhattan district attorney's office, according to a Variety report from April. On Thursday, Rolling Stone published a lengthy story in which several people gave detailed accounts alleging that Majors has a history of abusive behavior in both his professional and personal life. The Manhattan's District Attorney's Office declined to comment. Chaudhry did not respond to request for comment about the story by press time.

While attorneys for Majors have been vocal about sharing and responding to new developments, for prosecutors, there are more disadvantages to arguing their case in public, according to Rothstein. The most important reason being that they want to avoid any claims that a defendant could not get a fair trial because prosecutors turned the public against them, he added.

Both sides agree that an altercation happened

Majors is not contesting that an altercation happened, but he is saying that he was the victim in the dispute, according to Chaudhry.

Police initially arrested Majors on multiple charges, including strangulation that allegedly occurred as the pair were taking a car service back to Majors's home. They released him later that day with a limited restraining order, known as an order of protection, which are often used in cases of alleged intimate partner violence to protect alleged victims from further harm.

Since then, prosecutors dropped the strangulation charge, but Majors still faces charges of misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, attempted assault and harassment. Jabbari also received a full temporary protection order against Majors, which requires him to stay completely away from her, her home, workplace or school, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The New York Times reported that Jabbari has accused Majors pushed her into the car and "slapped her in the face."

On June 21, Majors filed his own domestic incident report against Jabbari, telling police his ex-girlfriend was "drunk and hysterical" the night of the assault and caused "pain and bleeding" after scratching and slapping him, according to Insider, which broke the news.

Insider writes that Majors admitted that "their fight spilled out into traffic" and that he "hoisted" her back into the car "I was worried she would be hurt by traffic. So I physically picked her up and put her in the car," Majors is quoted as saying. The domestic incident report also contained claims from Majors that Jabbari had previously attacked him, but he hadn't filed reports in those instances, Insider reports.

"Regarding the incident that occurred on March 25, 2023, the investigation is ongoing. There are no additional arrests at this time," the NYPD said in a statement to The Post on Friday.

Regardless of whether Jabbari is charged with a crime, making the police report could help Majors in his upcoming trial, said Rothstein: "He can say in that trial, 'I was defending myself and she attacked first.'" Turning the case into a "he said/she said" trial could work to Majors advantage, he added, since it could plant doubt in the jury's - and the public's - minds about who's culpable.

Marvel has kept quiet about its plans

For now, Marvel has not publicly commented about the charges against Majors and whether their plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will shift. The studio recently pushed back the release dates for its Avengers movies by a year. The next two of these films are now scheduled for release in 2027. Majors was absent from latest trailer for the second season of "Loki." (Marvel has not responded to multiple requests for comment.)