Jonathan Majors and Grace Jabbari on Sept. 12, 2022.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
The allegedfightbetweenJonathan Majorsand his then-girlfriend of two years,Grace Jabbari, started with a text message from a woman saved in theCreed IIIactor’s phone as Cleopatra, prosecutors claimed inopening statementsofhis assault trialMonday morning.
Leaning on his shoulder as they returned from dinner together in March, Jabbari, prosecutors allege, saw a text flash onto his phone with a link to D’Angelo’s song “Lady,” and Cleopatra’s message: “Wish I was kissing you.”
Jabbari took the stand Tuesday morning, rarely looking at Majors, who kept his face turned to his lap at his seat at the defense table. Dressed in a gray-and-red plaid suit, the 30-year-old British woman, who is a dancer, cried often, wiping her eyes with a tissue and apologizing to the judge for her tears.
She discussed the many times she said she had been scared of setting off the man who she described as falling into easy “rage and aggression.”
“His face kind of changes when he gets into that place,” Jabbari told the jury. “He’s a big guy so you just want to step back.”
Jonathan Majors on March 12, 2023.Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Majors, 34, is facing twochargesof assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, and harassment in the second degree for the alleged fight in March.
Emergency responders took Jabbari to the hospital and arrested Majors.
Then in October, Jabbari herself wasarrestedfor alleged incidents occurring the same night.
Her arrest stemmed froma counter-complaintthat Majors had filed months after the alleged attack, reportedly claiming that Jabbari had been “drunk and hysterical” that March night and had attacked him not only on the day she claims he attacked her, but on other previous occasions that he had never before reported.
Last week Judge Michael Gaffey, who is presiding over the misdemeanor trial, called the case “very unusual,” contrasting the actor to indigent New Yorkers, who he suggested would not normally have been able to cross-file allegations against their accuser months after the fact, as Majors did, leading to Jabbari’s arrest in October.
Referring to Majors, the judge asked: “Ifthis was an indigent New Yorker would this arrest have happened?”
Prosecutors havedeclined to prosecute Jabbari, and the case has been sealed, with Assistant District Attorney Kelli Galaway explaining to the judge last week that there was “no prosecutorial merit” to Majors’s claims, a comment gaining a head shake fromMajors’ current girlfriend, actressMeagan Good, whoroutinely attends court.
Telling the jury that a witness on the scene would describe Jabbari as a “psycho-girl,” Chaudhry added that after Majors broke up with her and “canceled her Mrs. Majors plan,” Jabbari decided to accuse Majors of domestic violence as retribution.
Among the evidence presented at trial, Jabbari showed the jury a photograph she said she had taken after a fight with Majors, who she said had thrown “anything within reaching distance," including candles, denting a bedroom wall with an object and shattering glass on the floor.
“I took the photo because the shift in his temper was something I was aware of, and I just wanted to remember," Jabbari said. “I knew I kept forgiving him, but I just wanted to have a bit of a memory of him.”
Majors has not made a comment coming and going from trial, which started last week, though he could later take the stand in his trial, which is expected to last several weeks.
Jonathan Majors on Jan. 20, 2023.Arturo Holmes/2023 Getty
Arturo Holmes/2023 Getty
Heather Cucolo— who is not involved in the case but is a professor at New York Law School who specializes in sexual violent predator law — says “gender paradigm stereotypes” are commonly used to demonize women alleging abuse.
“Calling a woman ‘crazy’ or ‘psycho’ is a form of abuse itself — emotional abuse — and perpetrates a dangerous stereotype,” Cucolo adds. “The misperception that she somehow caused or is responsible for the resulting violence is dangerous because any reference to provocation shifts the blame to the victim while minimizing the responsibility of the abuser’s actions.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
