Kori Barnes 
It’s wild that this old saying has shown itself to be true multiple times in the spotlight, “when you’re at the top of the world, everyone is waiting and hoping for you to fall.” Realistically, people do make mistakes and have become their own downfall of demise, but some things can be forgiven more than others. In the entertainment industry, there’s a thin line on whether a well-known actor will survive domestic abuse allegations. In this case, that actor would be Jonathan Majors.
Although Majors secured leading roles in the 2023 films “Creed III” alongside Michael B. Jordan and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” recent domestic abuse allegations against him have already caused an epic decline in his career. This Emmy nominated “Lovecraft Country” star is facing serious DV allegations from his now ex-girlfriend and numerous other women who are now coming forward to speak out against the actor. According to variety.com., “The ‘Creed III’ star was arrested on March 25 in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. At the time, an NYPD spokesperson said in a statement that a 30-year-old woman told police she had been assaulted by Majors, 33, and that she ‘sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.’ But [Priya] Chaudhry mounted an immediate and aggressive response, insisting that the actor ‘is probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows’ and suggested the woman was having ‘an emotional crisis.’ A source familiar with the chronology of events says the attorney released the statement while he was still behind bars.”
Initially, as soon as the news and allegations broke regarding Major’s potentially being involved in a domestic abuse allegation, fans and audiences across social media immediately came to his defense. Some even accused this woman involved with Major’s of purposely attempting to sabotage his career, claiming that Black men are targeted when they’re on the rise in Hollywood. However, once text messages between Major’s and the unknown woman were released by his lawyer in attempts to prove his innocence, it gave the opposite effect to the majority of audiences that reviewed the “evidence.”
According to variety.com, “Chaudhry’s husband, Andrew Bourke, is serving as Majors’ crisis publicist and doubled down on the narrative that Majors was the victim when he released a series of text messages on March 30 that were intended to be exonerating. In the text exchange … 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.’ The woman also allegedly wrote, ‘Please let me know you’re okay when you get this. They assured me that you won’t be charged. They said they had to arrest you as protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight. I’m so angry that they did. And I’m sorry you’re in this position. Will make sure nothing happens about this. … I love you … I just want you to know that I’m doing all I can on my end. I also said to tell the judge to know that the origin of the [911] call was to do with me collapsing and passing out and your worry as my partner due to our communication prior.’”
For many who were in business with Majors, the text messages had the opposite effect and raised more questions than they answered. One major question: Why did the woman lose consciousness?” One person who is working with Majors on an upcoming project said, “It read like a bad Lifetime movie. They basically look like the text messages of a textbook abused woman,” according to Variety.
Shortly after this “evidence” was released and gave audiences time to make their opinion on this incident, Majors was dropped from his management team at Entertainment 360, his PR team at Lede Company, and several upcoming films that he was slated for. However, he still is currently being represented by WME. Also, there is no official word on if Marvel has not dropped him from the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025) and “Loki” season two that’s still scheduled. Despite the controversy and backlash that Marvel is receiving, they have declined to comment on Majors or any other actor in their films who may have been accused of domestic allegations.
So, why is Majors being looked at as guilty and what more can he do to prove his innocence? The odds are definitely stacked against Majors’ in this circumstance, due to the text messages that revealed he and the unknown woman were involved and that some form of abuse has occurred. In order for Majors to potentially try to save his career, he should want to be completely transparent and advocate for women who’ve experienced DV. Fans and audiences are unsure of how the rest of Majors allegations will play out, but we’ll definitely be waiting to see if he can come back from this.
By Kori Barnes, University of Southern California
Instagram: @korixnicole
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