Marvel “releases” Jonathan Majors after being convicted of assault

Actor Jonathan Majors has been booted from Marvel Studios after pleading guilty to assault and harassment against his then-girlfriend, British choreographer Grace Jabbari. After the ruling, a Marvel spokesperson said the studio would no longer work with Majors, who faces up to a year in prison according to foreign media reports. The actor has played Kang the Conqueror in some films and TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (most recently in the second season of Loki). Marvel has already postponed the release dates for Avengers: Kang Dynasty, in which he was supposed to play the lead role. It is unclear whether Marvel Studios plans to replace him with another actor or erase his character from the films. Dream Magazine, an upcoming film starring Majors that has been floated as a potential Oscar contender, was also postponed following his arrest.

During the two-week trial in Manhattan, jurors were shown surveillance footage of the attack. Al-Jabari suffered a broken finger, bruises and a cut behind his ear after the couple argued over the phone in a rented car in New York. The incident occurred when the woman saw a text message from another woman on Majors’ phone, which read: “I would like to kiss you now.” In an attempt to retrieve his phone, the movie star grabbed his then-girlfriend, put her arm behind her back and hit her in the head, according to Al-Jabbari’s testimony. Majors was found guilty of reckless assault occasioning bodily harm and harassment.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told the Times that evidence presented over the past two weeks “illustrates a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse and escalating coercion that has become all too common in many cases of intimate partner violence.” He added: “The jury determined that the pattern of abuse and coercion culminated in Mr Majors assaulting and harassing his girlfriend.”