Creed III actor Jonathan Majors appeared on Tuesday in a Manhattan criminal court, charged with domestic abuse. His trial is set to begin on August 3. The performer could be facing up to a year in jail if found guilty on the misdemeanor charges.
Majors was accompanied to the brief court hearing by his girlfriend Meagan Good. The actor had participated in a virtual hearing on May 9 but was told then by Judge Rachel S. Pauley that he had to show up in person next time or he could be subject to an arrest warrant.
His lawyers claim that Majors is not guilty of assault in the altercation that happened in March in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
According to police reports, the 33-year-old Majors was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 30-year-old woman, who later filed for a temporary order of protection. At Tuesday’s court appearance, Majors was admonished to have “no contact whatsoever” with the woman and to keep in touch with court officials.
The actor’s lawyers have characterized the whole situation as a “witch hunt” that shows “the racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system.” They have released videos and text messages indicating that the alleged victim has been asking for forgiveness from Majors. Coming to his defense, attorney Priya Chaudhry said his legal team had “delivered additional compelling evidence to the District Attorney, clearly proving [the alleged victim’s] assault on Jonathan Majors and not the other way around.”
Majors first came to prominence for his appearance in the 2019 film The Last Black Man in San Francisco and in the HBO television series Lovecraft Country. Since 2021, he has been appearing as Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Although neither Disney nor Marvel have said anything about whether the case would affect Majors’s future with them, the actor has been shut out of other film roles and advertising campaigns. Following the incident, he was dropped by his talent manager Entertainment and also by his public-relations firm, The Lede Company.