This week, we got some very unsettling updates on the Jonathan Majors situation. Majors was arrested in New York in March for brutalizing his girlfriend, Grace Jabbari. Majors’ legal team sprang into action, pushing a narrative that his girlfriend “apologized” to him and that she “attacked” him too. The Johnny Depp Method is being used here to a crazy degree. What’s remarkable is that the Majors case seems to have revealed a profound schism between the Manhattan DA’s office and the NYPD. The NYPD leaked an upcoming “arrest” of Grace Jabbari to the Messenger. The DA’s office responded by previewing their case against Majors, including details about how Majors wanted Jabbari arrested and wanted the NYPD to create “wanted” posters with her photo. Meanwhile, the DA’s office has additional victims and they’re also trying to get their hands on police records from London, where Majors apparently assaulted Jabbari in a previous incident. The DA’s office also said that they had no plans to prosecute Jabbari for anything. So why did the NYPD arrest Jabbari this week?
Grace Jabbari, the woman who has accused Jonathan Majors of attacking her on March 25, has been arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor criminal mischief. Jabbari was arrested at the 10th precinct in Manhattan on Wednesday. She was released on a desk appearance. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has said they will not prosecute her on any charges related to the incident.
“The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has officially declined to prosecute the case against Grace Jabbari because it lacks prosecutorial merit. The matter is now closed and sealed,” a spokesperson for the D.A. said Thursday morning.
Majors faces misdemeanor charges of harassment and assault after being arrested following the alleged domestic violence incident March 25. Police responded to a 911 call and a 30-year-old woman reported being assaulted by Majors, with police noting that she had sustained minor injuries. Majors was released from police custody later that day. In June, the Loki actor filed a cross complaint against Jabbari, alleging that she attacked him that night. His attorney, Priya Chaudhry, has denied all wrongdoing on behalf of her client.
In court documents filed in relation to Majors’ case, prosecutors told police that they will not prosecute Jabbari, citing the belated nature of the allegations for the decision on any charges related to the incident and saying it comes as part of the routine process of evaluating cross complaints in domestic violence cases. Jabbari and her attorney were informed of this decision Sept. 21.
An investigatory card, or I-Card, which is not an arrest warrant but is an NYPD document alerting officers that there is probable cause for an arrest, was also issued for Jabbari in late June, the documents state. Prosecutors asked the NYPD to issue Jabbari a desk appearance ticket, which requires her to return to court at a specified date, rather than waiting in custody for an arraignment. The prosecution had planned to provide travel and lodging to the U.S. for Jabbari, who is a British citizen, in order for her to testify at Majors’ trial, according to the documents.
It sounds like the NYPD “arrested” Jabbari even though the DA’s office informed them repeatedly that the office had zero plans to charge or prosecute Jabbari with anything. It also sounds like there’s a disagreement about the arrangements being made to ensure that Jabbari can testify against Majors, and the NYPD is doing the most to “muddy the waters” about who assaulted whom. Who leaked the “upcoming arrest” to the Messenger and why does it feel like the DA’s office is playing catch-up on the NYPD’s shenanigans?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Jonathan Majors at Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Premiere at BFI IMAX in London, UK, 16 February 2023,Image: 756608631, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- Jonathan Majors attends Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – UK Gala Screening at the BFI IMAX in London, England. 16th February 2023. -,Image: 756734170, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – UK Gala Screening, Credit line: JW / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
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- Kang the Conqueror Jonathan Majors arrives at the UK Gala Screening of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania at BFI IMAX Waterloo, London, UK on 16 February 2023.,Image: 756771544, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Tina Korhonen / Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 27: Jonathan Majors attends the Los Angeles Premiere of “CREED III” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 27, 2023 in Hollywood, California.,Image: 759431241, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jonathan Majors, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
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- Jonathan Majors arrives on the red carpet of The 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.,Image: 762316040, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
This is standard procedure in assault cases. Where it is claimed that there was a “fight” resulting in injuries, the parties may choose to walk away (no charges against each other) or cross-complain and leave it put to the DA, judge or jury to decide.
In this particular case, it looks like the DA chose not to prosecute Jabbari in exchange for her testimony against Majors. Therefore, not necessarily bc there was no merit to his cross-complaint in THIS instance, but because there are other victims who have not come forward and this is the way to nail this guy.
I’d be a lot less likely to press charges for domestic violence assault if I knew I’d be subject to arrest as a matter of course on a we can’t figure it out so we’ll arrest both parties and let the courts deal with it. That’s scary.
Yes, it has had a chilling effect for sure. In clear “domestic violence” situations, they may not proceed this way, but if the abuser is claiming it was mutual combat, this is how it’s done. Majors allegedly also had scratches/injuries, so they would also look at proportionality (like in the Rihanna/Chris Brown case, where he had a few scratches and her face was destroyed). The proportionality may also be why they’re not prosecuting her.
yeah, if it’s standard procedure to bring in the accuser for questioning or whatever, there should probably be a different word for it rather than “arrest”.
it’s misleading and confusing for people who are not in the legal profession.
so frustrating how murky the media, the internet, *and* the NYPD have made this case.
This is why when my son’s dad would assault me I would never ever hit back. I would just take the punch because if I defended myself physically we would both be charged and I could lose custody of my child. This was over 10 years ago and I have long since gone to court and have full custody now.
This is a huge problem. I am also a DV survivor. During my divorce, I was counseled by a women’s shelter and told to NEVER physically defend myself when attacked due to this. Chilling when an attack could literally kill you. This is a huge problem in DV law along with dealing with law enforcement often being misogynistic.
ACAB. All day every day.
This does not surprise me at all. NYPD follows only its own rules and will do whatever it wants without any consequences This poor woman, I am so enraged for her and for all the other women who are too intimidated and terrorized to seek justice.
Intimidation plain and simple. They will push until she “admits” that the violence was mutual and also they are trying to intimidate the other victims into not coming forward.
This really needs to be the end of this abusers career. I’ve been watching the new season of Loki and his acting is so affected and showy, his episodes are almost unwatchable even without knowing what a vile person he is. There is nothing lost by recasting.
I’m asking myself why they just didn’t recast. Marvel did that with Rhodie (Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle) when Terrance Howard’s abusive behavior surfaced and that was a big-budget franchise. Why are they insisting on keeping Majors?
Terance Howard was gone when he claimed that he was the real lead in Iron Man and demanded salary parity with RDJ. RDJ had taken a very low salary because of his past drug issues, and Howard saw that as somehow a permanent thing, rather than a temporary adjustment. Didn’t know about the bad behavior, but not surprised at all.
@Mimi Unfortunately they didn’t recast Terrence Howard bc of his abusive behavior but instead bc of a salary dispute. After the surprise success of Blade, Marvel wanted another superhero hit movie. So, with the first Iron Man movie, Terrence was paid more than Robert Downey Jr. And bc of RDJ’s history of drug abuse, the studio wanted to ensure RDJ showed up for work and did his job so they tied some of his salary on the back end. When Iron Man became a huge, hit, RDJ of course got a bigger salary and Terrence demanded to be paid more than RDJ again- which was stupid on his part. So the studio refused and Don Cheadle did an excellent job replacing him so…
His role is also much bigger, or at least that was the plan. There’s a very easy way to write him out (and another one that is beeing set up in Loki) and I hope they fire him, but I’m not surprised that Marvel has kept quiet and is probably waiting to see how things develop.
I won’t be surprised either if they don’t fire him because we all know Hollywood loves abusers.
Wow! Didn’t know about the salary dispute. I thought it was bc of his penchant for beating up his partners and drug abuse. I guess that didn’t matter to Marvel. :-/
Yes. There can be some room for forgiveness, but when an abuser doubles down and retaliates? Absolutely none. They need to go.
This season of Loki had already wrapped production months earlier when this happened. Terence Howard and Ed Norton were switched out between films, not during production of one, and nothing had to be reshot because of them.
Unless Kang makes an appearance in The Marvels, which was also already finished, I suspect a different actor will take on the role of Kang in whichever project the character appears in next that has not already been completed.
And yesterday’s episode ended in such a way that an actor could easily be switched out.
The BBC had a similar issue when the allegations against Ed Westwick came out with an Agatha Christie TV movie. They pulled the (completed) show and refilled all his scenes with a different actor. It can be done if the will is there.
In almost every picture I see of him he looks like he is responding “huh?” To someone calling his name. He looks startled and surprised, bothers me for some, illegitimate reason
I’m right there with you. He seems to do this annoying pursed lip thing (or yeah, a kinda “who me? huh?” look haha) that really aggravates me as well…so not attractive…
Another THR article mentioned that the NYPD might be mad about the DA’s office prosecuting a cop for on-duty misconduct and this could be their way of acting out. As a New Yorker, to me that tracks *sigh*
NYPD acts like it (and its officers) are above the law. Yes, *sigh*.
there seems to be such a heavy stream of misleading reporting and conflicting accounts designed solely to confuse people.
the media that have done some investigating and reported corroborated evidence about majors’ abusive past (rolling stone, etc) have done well. but, other media have been really disappointing on this because they’ve clearly been in contact with majors’ team, and they’ve been reporting what they are told as “facts” of the case rather than as “statements from majors’ legal/PR”.
now, because of the confusing, context-less reporting of half-truths since march, many people don’t know what’s really going on with this case, and actually think this man is innocent and is the victim of some conspiracy.
You summed the confusion up nicely, Taris. I tried looking stuff up to see how on earth GJ could be arrested for attacking JM, because this made no sense to me—normally all arrests would be in the same time period. Also, from where I am now, it’s unusual for the police to go through with an arrest (and she was booked for “multiple charges”) if it’s not going to be prosecuted and she was the main victim of assault. Apparently the NYPD only started this based on evidence in June, which is confusing as is the DA’s office saying that they only got word of this in September. Or August depending on the article.
I hope that the jury pool isn’t tainted by this, that it will be inadmissible in a trial and that other DV incidents from the UK as well as other victims can be used in the trial. This woman is being bullied and DARVOed.
A Nanaimo bar says IA and the DA are looking into the officers involved and Majors’ apologist-conspiracist lawyers for bribery.
I can barely read this it makes me so angry. So many men and institutions hate women and will do everything they can to keep us in our places. F you NYPD!!!
Delphine, What you went through sounds absolutely horrifying! I’m glad you got out and were able to get full custody! I’m glad you’re safe!
I meant to post this under Delphine’s comment above.
What ever happened to the tape Jonathan Majors team would exonerate him from the Uber the couple took? Does it not exist ? Marvel needs to wash its hands of this man. I mean they replaced Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle no sweat .