Jonathan Majors’ ex-girlfriend told Manhattan jurors on Tuesday the “Creed III” actor struck her in the head during an altercation in March.
Grace Jabbari, 30, broke down in tears several times while describing their relationship on the witness stand. She testified that during their two-years together, Majors could become volatile and controlling and he would threaten suicide after fights.
In a September 2022 audio recording that played during his domestic assault trial, he described himself as a “great man” and demanded that Jabbari behave like Michelle Obama or Coretta Scott King — the wives of Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. “I’m a great man. A great man. I do great things for my culture and for the world,” Majors is heard saying in the recording. “The woman that supports me needs to be a great woman.”
Her testimony is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Majors was arrested on March 25 and faces four charges of misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment and harassment. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to a year in prison if convicted.
On the night of the incident, Jabbari testified that she and Majors went to dinner and a play in Brooklyn. On the drive back to Manhattan, while seated next to each other in the back of a private car, Jabbari said she noticed a text message on his phone from another woman that read, “I wish I was kissing you right now.” She said she grabbed the phone out of Majors’ hands to see who sent the message. She alleges that Majors “pulled” and “twisted” her arm to retrieve the device. She also described feeling “a hard blow” across her head.
After he got his phone back, Majors ordered the driver to stop the car. He exited the vehicle and Jabbari said she attempted to follow the actor. The jury was shown a surveillance video of Majors seemingly pushing Jabbari back into the automobile.
As Jabbari testified, Majors spent the night in a hotel and she went to a Manhattan bar with people she met that night because she “didn’t want to be alone.”
Jabbari was taken the next day the hospital with “minor injuries to her head and neck,” according to prosecutors. Majors’ defense attorneys have alleged it was Jabbari who assaulted Majors, and “not the other way around.”
On the night of the incident, she said “the [physical] pain wasn’t registering. I was aware there was pain in my body, but I hadn’t registered anything. I’m a dancer. I’ve danced with a broken rib.”
She added, “I was only thinking from my heart of the infidelity. That morning, we were talking about when we were going to get married and the names of our [future] children.”
As Jabbari delivered her hours-long testimony, Majors, 34, sat at the defense table at theNew York City Criminal Court. He carried a Bible as he walked in the courtroomwith his current girlfriend Meagan Good, who has attended each day of the proceedings.
Earlier on Tuesday, Jabbari detailed the highs and lows of her two-year relationship with Majors. She said the former couple met in August 2021 on the London-based set of Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” where Majors had a key acting role and Jabbari worked as a movement coach. Jabbari, a professional dancer and resident of the United Kingdom, described the early stages of their relationship as “amazing.”
“He was really kind and loving. He told me he loved me very early on, which was overwhelming, but I loved it. And I loved him,” she told the jurors. “He wrote me poetry. I felt very loved and cared for and seen.”
But months into the relationship, she said, she noticed a change in his behavior toward her. The first time she remembers him becoming angry with her was in December 2021, when she was going to meet Majors’ dogs. She alleged that Majors berated her for bringing up a former boyfriend’s pet.
“It was the first time I felt scared of him,” she said. “I knew to never mention my ex again or anyone I had dated before.”
Jabbari relayed another incident, in June 2022, as she attended the Glastonbury Festival in England with her friends. She warned her boyfriend that she likely wouldn’t have cell service given the crowds, and when she didn’t, she alleges that Majors got upset with her. “He sent me a ton of messages saying I shouldn’t be there and how dare I go,” she said.
She said the exchange made her feel guilty, so she left the festival. When she attempted to reunite with Majors, she alleges he wasn’t responding to her messages or calls. “I felt regretful I had upset him in that way,” she said. “He wasn’t talking to me. I was saying everything I knew that would turn him around when he’s in these moods.”
At the time, Majors was intensely preparing to play a bodybuilder in the drama “Magazine Dreams,” which premiered at Sundance this year. He was “quite stressed” about the pressure of acting in and producing the film, according to Jabbari.
“Immediately after, it was quite nice again,” Jabbari said of their relationship. “He was apologetic and thanked me for my patience with him.”
Jabbari promised to Majors that she’d never tell anyone about that side of their relationship. “I felt like I had to keep a lot of secrets from everyone,” she said. “I felt very isolated. It was confusing. I felt scared of him but quite dependent on him.” Their relationship continued because “I loved him,” Jabbari told the jurors.
After fights, Jabbari alleges that Majors would refer to himself as a “monster” and make threats of suicide.
“I pleaded with him [so that] he wouldn’t do that. He would say, ‘It’s in place. It’s in motion.’ I’d say, ‘You can’t do that. What about your mother? What about your daughter?’” Jabbari said. “I would intend to make him feel safe and loved and secure. And he would receive that.”
Jabbari said this took a toll on their relationship and made her feel isolated. “I just felt like I was existing in his world,” she said. “I had low self-esteem. I lost a lot of weight. I felt incompetent and dependent on him. He was the only one who knew what went on.”
