Jonathan Majors Sentenced to 52-Week Domestic Violence Intervention Program
Jonathan Majors was sentenced to a 52-week in-person domestic violence intervention program after being convicted of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in December.
The charges, which are a misdemeanor and a violation, carried a sentence of up to one year in prison. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of domestic violence programming, with a six-month jail alternative if Majors failed to complete programming, as well as a full order of protection for his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. Majors received time served for the harassment violation.
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The 52-week sentencing is due to take place in person in Los Angeles and the full order of protection was granted. Majors must continue with mental health counseling and therapy and provide the court with updates on treatment, with his first compliance date on Sept. 13. If he is not compliant, judge Michael Gaffey said Majors could face up to 364 days in jail on the misdemeanor.
Majors’ attorneys asked for the possibility to conduct some sessions virtually, saying, “We are optimistic that Mr. Majors will work in the film industry again soon.” Judge Gaffey said his attorneys can file with the court to ask for the virtual sessions if employment opportunities arise.
The charges stem from an incident on March 25, 2023, when Majors was riding in a car with Jabbari. She testified that she saw a text on Majors’ phone that read: “Oh how I wish to be kissing you” and grabbed the phone from Majors, who pried her finger from the phone, grabbed her arm and right hand, twisted her forearm and struck her head to get the phone away from her. She said he later threw her back into the car, which relates to the harassment violation.
A jury convicted on two charges and found Majors not guilty of intentional assault in the third degree and not guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree after a two-week trial.
Wearing a patterned coat, black suit and black shirt, Majors walked into the court room Monday with girlfriend Meagan Good, who has been with him throughout the trial, and hugged and shook hands with a row of supporters, all of whom had been wearing red beanies. Majors was also carrying a red beanie and a Bible. He appeared to be reading the Bible before the sentencing began.
Jabbari was in attendance with members of her family and read a victim impact statement out loud to the court, saying that in addition to the alleged physical abuse at the center of the case, the abuse continued after the trial and would likely continue with others.
“He’s not sorry. He has not accepted responsibility, and he will do this again. He will hurt other women. This is a man who believes he’s above the law,” Jabbari said.
“I will not rest until I feel that he’s not a danger to anyone else,” she added.
Majors did not make a statement, with his attorney, Priya Chaudhry, saying that Jabbari would “attempt to use it against him in her civil case.” While she called this “the most challenging year of Jonathan Majors’ life” and said he would abide by the sentence, Chaudhry said her client still maintains his innocence.
“Mr. Majors maintains his innocence and plans to appeal his conviction,” Chaudhry said.
Despite the possible sentence, many legal experts did not expect Majors to face any jail time, since it is his first conviction.
However, that expectation changed after Majors gave an interview on Good Morning America in early January, ahead of sentencing, in which he expressed shock over the verdict and maintained his innocence. At the time, GMA aired a statement from prosecutors saying that Majors’ statements in the interview showed a “clear lack of remorse,” which was reiterated Monday.
In light of that, the 52-week sentence was actually slightly more than anticipated, given that first arrests typically come with a conditional discharge, a one-week program or a few days of community service, said Cary London, a Manhattan-based civil rights and criminal defense attorney at Shulman & Hill.
Majors was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6, but the sentencing was delayed to April 8 after his defense team filed a motion to set aside the verdict.
The actor has already faced consequences outside of the courtroom: Marvel Studios dropped the actor as Kang the Conqueror from its upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films shortly after the initial verdict was read. After the arrest, Majors was dropped by his PR firm The Lede Company and his managers at Entertainment 360.
Majors also faces the civil suit filed by Jabbari, in which she brings claims of assault and battery, with allegations of physical violence that date back to 2022, as well as defamation related to his statements in the press after the trial.
Ross Kramer, who represented Jabbari after she was arrested during the course of the trial, which she called “retaliation” by Majors, called the verdict a “a serious sentence,” which he said was “appropriate” for the crime.
“What Grace Jabbari did over the past year was incredibly brave and important. She overcame every obstacle put in her path to give honest, emotional, public testimony, in a court very far from her home. Grace demonstrated that justice can be served in cases like this. Hopefully, her example will empower other survivors to break their silence and hold their abusers accountable,” Kramer said.
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