Marvel actor Jonathan Majors is set to go on trial in New York City Wednesday on charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend during a March encounter inside a taxi near their lower Manhattan home.
The “Loki” star, 34, faces misdemeanor assault and harassment charges stemming from a March 25 altercation that erupted after Majors’ ex, professional dancer Grace Jabbari, saw a text on his phone that read, “I wish I was kissing you right now,” court papers say.
Majors has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which have threatened to derail his career as a rising Hollywood star.
The actor has played major roles in the Michael B. Jordan film “Creed III” and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” franchise.
If convicted on all of the counts he’s facing, he could spend up to a year in jail.
Jury selection is expected to begin Wednesday in front of Judge Michael Gaffey in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The judge has also yet to rule on whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office can tell jurors about a separate September 2022 London incident that they say is connected to the case but about which they have released few details.
Once the trial begins, prosecutors plan to introduce evidence that Majors manhandled Jabbari, 30, after she grabbed Majors’ phone to see who sent the “I wish I was kissing you” message — including by twisting her forearm and hitting her in the ear.
After Jabbari attempted to follow Majors out of the car, the actor “grabbed her, picked her up and threw her back inside,” according to the DA’s office. Jabbari sustained “substantial pain, including a fractured finger, bruising about her body, a laceration behind her right ear, and a bump on her head,” the DA’s court papers say.
Majors’ attorneys, meanwhile, have attempted to portray him as a victim in the case, and have pointed to the NYPD’s finding — based on Majors’ own complaint filed with police in June — that there was probable cause to arrest Jabbari for attacking the actor.
But the prosecutors did not buy that version of events and have doubled down on their decision to charge Majors.
Majors’ lawyers have also released video footage that they claim sheds doubt on the severity of Jabbari’s injuries, including footage of Jabbari being twirled by her allegedly fractured finger at a dance club hours after her altercation with Majors.