Jonathan Majors Admits to Strangling Ex-Girlfriend In Newly Unearthed Audio
Jonathan Majors admitted to strangling an ex-girlfriend in a previously unreleased audio recording obtained by Rolling Stone.
The conversation was captured in the aftermath of a days-long fight between Majors and his then-girlfriend, professional dancer Grace Jabbari, in September 2022. The Marvel actor had been living with Jabbari in London as he filmed the second season of the Disney+ series Loki when he allegedly became angry at Jabbari. According to a since-settled civil lawsuit filed by Jabbari last April, she alleged Majors slammed her into a car, dragged her back inside their home, and strangled her.
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The unearthed audio tape published on captures Jabbari confronting Majors about the alleged attack in the following days.
“I’m ashamed I’ve ever— ” Majors begins, before cutting himself off. “I’ve never [been] aggressive with a woman before. I’ve never aggressed a woman — I aggressed you.”
“You strangled me and pushed me against the car,” Jabbari interjects.
“Yes, all those things are under ‘aggressed,’ yeah.” Majors responds. “That’s never happened to me.”
“Because I said something sarcastically, in your eyes?” Jabbari says.
“Well clearly, it’s more than that,” Majors says.
“Something inside of you,” Jabbari says.
“Yeah, towards you,” Majors agrees, before the recording ends.
An attorney for Jabbari declined to comment. Both an attorney and agent for Majors did not respond to Rolling Stone’s repeated requests for comment.
But appearing on the SHERRI Show on Wednesday morning — two days after Rolling Stone published the audio on Monday — Majors addressed the recording while promoting his new film Magazine Dreams. “God has a plan and sometimes you just throw your hands up,” the actor said. “I can’t speak about it, but I do know there’s a plan and I’ve let go of control. I just say, ‘Whatever it is, it is.'”
Some details of the dispute previously emerged during Majors’ criminal trial in late 2023, where he was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment following a different fight that took place in New York. He was arrested in March 2023 for allegedly attacking Jabbari, who sustained a fractured finger and a cut to the back of her ear. (Throughout the trial, Majors claimed that Jabbari was the aggressor in that incident. He was acquitted of the two more serious charges, intentional assault and aggravated harassment.)
But because a judge barred any previous instances of alleged physical abuse from the trial, only the aftermath of the September 2022 fight — Majors pleading with Jabbari to not go to the hospital and threatening to kill himself — were mentioned in court. (Claims by two of Majors’ ex-girlfriends, who alleged he emotionally and/or physically abused them during their relationships with him, were similarly blocked from being shared at trial. One of the ex-girlfriends, actress Emma Duncan, claimed Majors once choked her and, in another argument, threatened to strangle and kill her. Majors’ attorney claimed he never choked or threatened Duncan.)
When Jabbari sued Majors last March for defamation, assault and battery, and malicious prosecution, the complaint gave her full account of the alleged September 2022 attack. (Jabbari and Majors settled the case last November.)
The prolonged fight allegedly began when Majors became upset with Jabbari for going to a pub with a friend and having the friend back over to their house, according to evidence presented at trial and Jabbari’s civil complaint. The fighting continued over the next few days, with Majors admitting in a separate audio recording played at trial that he had a temper and that he expected Jabbari to hold herself to the standards of Coretta Scott King and Michelle Obama in order to support him. On Sept. 20, 2022, the situation escalated, according to the lawsuit, when Majors “became physically aggressive” and pushed Jabbari “so hard that it bruised her backside.” She attempted to leave the house, but Majors allegedly “picked Grace up in the air and threw her against the hood of her car,” according to court documents.
“Grace began shouting for help,” the lawsuit continues. “Majors then forcefully grabbed Grace, placing her in a headlock, and put his hand over her mouth to prevent someone from hearing her cries for help. He brought Grace back into their house and held his hands around her neck, stating that he wanted to kill her, and that he was going to kill her. Majors then started hitting Grace’s head against the marble floor while strangling her until she felt she could no longer breathe.”
Majors later texted Jabbari and pleaded with her not to go to the hospital, according to the suit and evidence shown at trial, saying, “I fear you have no perspective of what could happen if you go to the hospital. They will ask you questions and as I don’t think you can actually protect us it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.”
Some of Jabbari’s responses were redacted during the trial, but the lawsuit says Jabbari went on to tell Majors, “Why would the man I love throw me around. Strangle me and look at my eyes and say he hates me and wants to kill me … I’m reminded of what happened each [waking] second because I can barely move without pain. . . I also have to heal physically. That’s not me stating other than facts. I have endured a bad head injury and I feel unwell. I have brain fog. I have a constant ringing headache.” (Majors has denied being physically abusive to Jabbari.)
The audio comes in the wake of Majors sitting down for his first major interview since his domestic violence sentencing and a judge ordering him to complete a 52-week domestic violence intervention program. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the Friday release of his film Magazine Dreams — which had been shelved by Searchlight Pictures following Majors’ arrest but got picked up by small distributor Briarcliff Entertainment — Majors declined to answer specific questions about Jabbari’s accusations. He also didn’t address any abuse claims raised by two former partners who dated him between 2013 and 2019.
“At some point there has to be accountability for writing your own story,” Majors told the publication. “Am I going to fall into that narrative of falling apart, of self-destruction? Have a struggle, blame the world. Have a struggle, hate yourself. Have a struggle, deny everything. None of those narratives is beneficial.” Majors said his newfound outlook was different: “Have a struggle, learn, metabolize, grow.”
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with various producers, directors, and A-list names — including Michael B. Jordan, Matthew McConaughey, and Whoopi Goldberg — who praised Majors’ talent and work ethic and spoke of their hope that he’d be able to resume a successful career in Hollywood.
Majors has never directly publicly apologized for his behavior towards his ex-girlfriends and has denied ever being physically abusive to women. In an interview with Good Morning America ahead of his April 2024 sentencing, Majors said while he might not have been the “best boyfriend at the time,” he insisted that he had “never hit a woman.” “My hands have never struck a woman, ever,” he added.
Maura Hooper, one of Majors’ ex-girlfriends who alleged emotional abuse and controlling behavior, told The Hollywood Reporter that she would like an apology. “I don’t really care that his movie is coming out,” she said. “What do you get at the end of a 52-week domestic violence course? Do the victims get a debrief? How could I know if he’s changed? I don’t see redemption happening here.”
This article was updated on Wednesday, March 19 at 3:10 p.m. to include Majors’ response to the recording.
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