Jonathan Majors appeared in a lower Manhattan court on Tuesday morning via Zoom regarding the status of his ongoing assault case.
In the brief conference, which was automatically set six weeks ago after his initial court appearance, Judge Rachel S. Pauley discussed a motion filed by Majors’ defense team that the prosecution has until May 23 to respond. The defense will have until May 31 to respond back. Majors needs to appear in court on June 13, when a decision will be made regarding that motion. If he fails to show up in person, a warrant can be issued for his arrest within 48 hours, the judge added.
“I obviously don’t want that to happen, so just stay in touch with your attorney,” the judge told Majors.
Majors was arrested on March 25 in Manhattan on domestic violence allegations after a dispute with a 30-year-old woman, according to authorities. The unnamed victim told officers that she was assaulted and was taken to the hospital with “minor injuries to her head and neck.” Days later, Majors was charged with several counts of assault in the third degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree, one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree, and one count harassment in the second degree.
The alleged victim on April 27 was granted a temporary order of protection, which means the two parties must not have any direct or third-party contact. It remains in effect until the next court date. On Tuesday the judge reiterated, “You can have no contact whatsoever.”
The legal team for Majors has denied any wrongdoing and has released text messages and videos that are intended to prove the embattled actor’s innocence. In one text exchange, which has not been independently verified, the woman wrote to Majors, “I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone” and stressed that she told police “this was not an attack.”
His criminal defense lawyer Priya Chaudhry issued a statement after Tuesday’s court appearance, calling the case a “witch hunt” and claiming the proceeding is “saturated with explicit and implicit bias.” She also alleges the treatment of Majors, whom she describes as a “Black man weighing 200 lbs,” highlights the “racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system.”
“We have provided the District Attorney with irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video proof showing nothing happened, especially not where she claimed,” she wrote. “We did this with the explicit promise from the DA that they would not ‘fix’ their case and change it as we proved the woman is lying.”
Chaudhry also alleges the woman hasn’t been consistent with her account of the incident. “Now, we have obtained even more video evidence of his innocence, but we are hesitant to share it, for fear the DA will tip the woman off to change her story again,” she added.
At the time of his arrest, Chaudhry insisted the actor “is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows” and suggested the victim was having “an emotional crisis.”
A representative for Majors also denied the allegations after he was released from custody on March 25 and his publicist told PvNew, “We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.” The following month, on April 17, Majors was dropped by his PR team at the Lede Company, as well as his management, Entertainment 360. WME still represents Majors.
As his court date neared, additional alleged victims of Majors came forward and cooperated with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Prior to the alleged incident, the 33-year-old Majors had been a rising star in Hollywood, recently headlining “Creed III,” “Devotion” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” An Emmy nominee for HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” he also received acclaim for “Magazine Dreams,” which sold to Searchlight after premiering at Sundance Film Festival.
As part of the fallout, he’s been dropped from projects including the feature film “The Man in My basement,” as well as advertising campaigns with the U.S. Army and the Major League baseball team the Texas Rangers.
