US actor Jonathan Majors leaves a courtroom after being found guilty of assault and harassment of his former girlfriend, at the Manhattan criminal courts in New York City. Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP
Jonathan Majors wants to "fully" clear his name after being found guilty of harassing and assaulting his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.
The 34-year-old actor's lawyer has issued a statement after the split verdict was reached on Monday, while he was found not guilty of one count of intentional assault in the third degree and one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
Lawyer Priya Chaudhry said: "It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her.
"We are grateful for that. We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him.
"Mr Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends, and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months.
"Mr Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name."
The actor was arrested on March 25 on assault and harassment charges, after Jabbari accused him of assaulting her in the backseat of a private car after she took his phone to read a text message he had received from another woman.
She alleged the star forcefully took his phone back from her, causing an “excruciating” injury to her right middle finger.
And she said when she got out of the car Majors hit her on the back of her head and then tried to force her back into the car, causing a cut behind her right ear.
Majors denied he assaulted Jabbari and his defence team alleged she was the aggressor when she took his phone.
During the actor’s nearly two-week trial, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office released a series of texts between him and Jabbari, as well as an audio recording that was used evidence.
It included messages in which Majors seemingly attempted to persuade Jabbari not to go to hospital following a head injury and another in which the actor threatened suicide.
In the audio, Majors tells Jabbari she needs to act like Corretta Scott King and Michelle Obama, because he’s “a great man” who is “doing great things, not just for me, but for my culture and the world”.
Majors could be jailed for up to a year when he is sentenced and the case could spell the end of his Hollywood career at a time when he was being tipped for an Oscar for his role in the unreleased film ‘Magazine Dreams’.
The Hollywood Reporter has said Majors was set to front 2026’s ‘The Avengers: Kang Dynasty’, which has now been renamed ‘Avengers 5’ with the actor dropped from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.