Jonathan Majors Sued By Ex-Girlfriend Grace Jabbari for Defamation, Assault and Battery

Fallout from a New York jury’s conviction of Jonathan Majors for misdemeanor reckless assault and harassment has erupted in a lawsuit against the actor from ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, who claims that she alerted Majors’ management team of abuse in 2021.

In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, Jabbari brought claims for battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution and defamation, which arise from Majors denying that he abused the professional dancer and movement coach leading up to and after his conviction. She accuses Majors of subjecting her to a “pattern of pervasive domestic abuse that began in 2021 and extended through 2023,” detailing several instances of alleged abuse.

Jabbari, who met Majors in 2021 on the set of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, claims that the alleged abuse escalated to physical violence in 2022 when Majors “attacked” her, “causing serious injuries to her body.” 

According to the suit, on Sept. 20, 2022, after an earlier largely verbal fight, Majors “pushed Grace so hard that it bruised her backside,” “picked Grace up in the air and threw her against the hood of her car” and “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.”

Jabbari says she later wanted to seek medical treatment for this incident, but alleges she was dissuaded by Majors, who said via text, “They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.”

Their texts about the alleged incident also came up as part of Majors’ criminal trial (though any alleged incident preceding it was not discussed). Jurors were instructed to view this and past instances of alleged abuse as background information, rather than evidence of propensity to commit a crime. While many of the incidents in the civil suit were alluded to by Jabbari as part of the criminal trial, she was largely only able to speak to the alleged emotional abuse surrounding them, rather than any claims of physical violence. 

In the new suit, Jabbari also alleges that the actor is now tarnishing her reputation, including in his interview with Good Morning America after the sentencing.

“Now that Majors can no longer physically abuse Grace, he has resorted to very publicly abusing her reputation. Following his arrest, Majors immediately implemented an extensive media campaign smearing Grace, claiming that he was “completely innocent,” “is provably the victim,” that he “did not assault her whatsoever,” and that “this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital,” the suit reads.

The lawsuit follows the criminal court case against Majors, in which he was convicted in December of reckless assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree, which is a violation. These charges were brought by the state of New York, not by Jabbari. 

That case was related to an incident on March 25, 2023 between Majors and Jabbari, when she was still dating the actor. During the trial, Jabbari testified that while the two were riding in a car, she saw a text on his phone suggesting he was cheating on her and grabbed it from him. She said the actor then injured her, including prying her finger from the phone and striking her head as he tried to take the phone away from her and later threw her back into the car. 

Priya Chaudhry, Majors’ attorney on that case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new suit.

Majors was scheduled to be sentenced in the criminal case on Feb. 6, but the sentencing was delayed until April 8 as the prosecution and the judge on the case respond to the defense’s motion to set aside the verdict. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to one year in prison.

As he awaits sentencing, the Creed III and Marvel was spotted Saturday at the NAACP Awards alongside his current partner, actress Meagan Good.  

More to come.