Jonathan Majors was an actor on the rise—indie credits, prestige television, a Spike Lee joint, a superhero film. But all of that looked like it was over when Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment in 2023.
Now, Majors is back on the promotional circuit for the film Magazine Dreams. Is this evidence of the #MeToo movement’s waning power, or is it more of the same from an industry that’s always eager for a man’s redemption story?
On a recent episode of What Next, host Mary Harris talked to Rolling Stone’s CT Jones about Majors’ career, the allegations, and his current comeback campaign. This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mary Harris: Can you give me a Jonathan Majors 101? Tell me who Jonathan Majors was in Hollywood pre-2023.
CT Jones: He went to Yale, which is well known as a drama school that produces actors that are very intent and focused on the craft. Majors was seen on early miniseries. He did an ABC one called When We Rise. He continued to come into these small but very impactful roles. One of the biggest things was Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Majors is incredible in this. He has this sensitive silence. It’s this really poignant film that touches on gentrification and also how communities change and grow, and really has to grapple at the same time with America’s past sins.
He all of a sudden is arrested on charges of strangulation, assault, and harassment on March 25, 2023. What do we know about the incident that led to his arrest?
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Grace Jabbari, his ex-girlfriend, was taken to a hospital because she had minor injuries to her head and neck. Later investigation and a video that was released allegedly showed Majors trying to pull her to get a phone out of her hand, twisting her arm, and trying to have the phone back.
When the altercation was first announced, a lot of people online really stuck to Jonathan Majors’ side. It’s a little unclear who pushed first, what was a shove, and what was an accident. People really wanted to take his side on it. That changed after subsequent court discovery came out. And Jabbari and a lot of other women gave reports of having very contentious and oftentimes violent and emotionally abusive relationships with Majors.
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Colleagues of yours at Rolling Stone reported on some of these interactions. What did they find?
The report found that Majors was allegedly abusive with partners at Yale and aggressive on set. Around two dozen sources talked to Rolling Stone reporters for the story, and they said that he was a source of “toxicity” at Yale—all allegations that Majors denied and continues to deny.
What has been really interesting is that a lot of Majors’ rehabilitation campaign—and also when he spoke in court—was very clear that this was a one-off. Even earlier this year, on March 17, Rolling Stone also unearthed another audio where Majors allegedly agrees with Jabbari that he was aggressive and physically violent with her.
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The reporting Rolling Stone did in 2023 makes it clear that, at least from 40 sources, this is not a one-off, that Majors has a long-term pattern of alleged physical, mental, and emotional abuse starting at college.
I wanna talk explicitly about race and how it plays into what’s going on with Jonathan Majors and how it’s seen by different people. Jonathan Majors is Black. The girlfriend who accused him of assault in court is white. And notably, during the trial, Majors had a different girlfriend, a Black woman, Meagan Good. He’s now married to her. Did it seem like there was a message there? Did it seem race was part of how Jonathan Majors was telling his story?
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Jonathan Majors was very clear that he always thought race was a factor in this. Even in the statements he gave through his legal team, he said after his conviction that he was the victim of a racially biased legal proceeding. So to have a Black man be accused by a white woman, historically, it paints a picture, even without Majors having to say anything. And that picture, historically, is that this might not be Majors’ fault. And he has really used that historical image to his advantage.
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The charges that he was eventually found guilty of were assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree. Did the fact that he wasn’t found guilty on all counts help his image in some way?
Absolutely. Because of the way that the charges played out, the idea is that Majors was found guilty of having caused some of this harm, but people could not agree on whether or not it was intended, which has really helped his case. Also, he was able to avoid jail time and instead was sentenced to therapy and a 52-week domestic violence intervention program.
The real story of Majors’ comeback now, a year later, started with this Hollywood Reporter profile from last month. Had Majors changed what he was saying about what happened between himself and Grace Jabbari in the time since he was found guilty?
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He’s actually been more quiet about it. He hasn’t really answered a lot of questions directly, but when he does get questions straight-on, he either says “I can’t really talk about it” or “I’m focused on healing and growth.” Throughout it and since his conviction he has basically said that he has had a change of heart, not implying that he ever touched Jabbari, rather that he was emotional and has since found a better relationship, a better understanding of religion, and a better therapeutic understanding of who he is and why he got angry.
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I know Jonathan Majors has showed up on The Breakfast Club, Sherri Shepherd’s show. What has he been like in those contexts?
It’s really interesting that you mentioned that because the Sherri Shepherd interview actually went incredibly viral and not for anything that Majors did. In the interview, he says that his character in Magazine Dreams, Killian, is mentally a little bit different and the way that he sees the world informs how he acts in it. Sherri Shepherd, who said she had seen the film, starts to cry.
I think what this speaks to is the Black community’s desire to hold on tight to its stars. It’s really hard for Black community members to get the same kind of respect and adulation that white actors get. Viola Davis has mentioned the fact that she should rightfully be considered on the same level as Meryl Streep, but she’s not. She says that Black actors and actresses have to work harder to get half of the accolades. So what’s very clear here in the case of a lot of Black entertainment moguls who are speaking up for Majors is this unwillingness to lose a talent that has already proven himself.
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It’s a familiar story even outside of the Black community itself. Hollywood thrives on fulfilling narratives, and comeback stories are really successful. Even if we’re talking about in the world of Marvel, Robert Downey Jr.’s transformation as Iron Man was lauded because of how it rehabbed his image post–drug problems. There are so many male actors that have had domestic violence accusations in their lives and have continued to have steady careers. And so when you have all of these actors who have been able to weather the storm of accusations and allegations, it’s very clear that Jonathan Majors is positing himself and saying, These white men have done it. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to as well?
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It seems to me all this is happening at this very particular moment in time. Do you think Jonathan Majors’ success or failure with his rebranding here will tell us something about where we are with #MeToo in Hollywood more generally?
The Jonathan Majors rebrand is pointing out where consumers feel like they have a responsibility. I can’t tell you what rooms people are speaking up for Jonathan Majors in. I assume there’s a lot of them. I assume that the things that I can’t see are boardrooms, where people are convincing studios to give him a chance. I think this does speak to a lot of the progresses we made during #MeToo being quietly rolled back.
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But one of the things that really heartens me is that I am seeing an increased willingness from people and consumers, people who love movies and watch entertainment, to speak up and say, “I can see the scheme here. I can see the comeback story that you were trying to portray to us. I will not accept it this half-assed,” essentially.
I think it would make people much more willing to take him back if Jonathan Majors was able to say sorry. What would probably matter more is if he spoke to any of these women. If even the people who he allegedly harmed don’t feel like he’s changed, why should I?