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Jonathan Majors Accused of Abuse by Two More Women, ‘Lovecraft Country’ Crewmembers Recall Difficult Behavior

Majors was convicted of reckless assault and harassment in December 2023.
Jonathan Majors JOHN NACION/GETTY IMAGES

Jonathan Majors JOHN NACION/GETTY IMAGES

Two women came forward with new abuse allegations against Jonathan Majors on Thursday, accusing the disgraced actor of physical and emotional abuse in a report from the New York Times.

The report also cited interviews with 20 other people who alleged that Majors has a “history of volatility,” per the Times, and that he repeatedly confronted female co-workers while on set of the HBO series Lovecraft Country, leading several to complain to the network.

The Times report references accounts from Emma Duncan and Maura Hooper, who say they dated Majors between 2013 and 2019. Duncan told the Times that Majors physically and emotionally abused her, and Hooper alleged emotional abuse.

Per the report, both women described Majors as “a controlling, threatening figure who isolated them from friends and career pursuits.”

Priya Chaudhry, a lawyer for Majors, told the Times that the relationships with Duncan and Hooper were both “toxic,” admitting that he “did say hurtful things,” but denied most of the claims of physical abuse and said he did not know about the HBO complaint. In Chaudhry’s response, also obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, she said, “While their relationship was mutually emotionally volatile, he did not physically abuse her.”

The new revelations come only two months after Majors was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree stemming from an incident in March 2023 between the actor and his ex-partner Grace Jabbari. The latter 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. 

The charges carry a potential sentence of up to one year in prison; at a hearing Monday, the sentencing was delayed to April 8.

“You lose your sense of worth,” Duncan told the Times of her relationship with Majors. She also says she was engaged to the actor from 2015 to 2019. She and Hooper both recalled Majors “love bombing” her early in their relationship, showering them with romantic gestures before ultimately turning physically or emotionally violent.

In a statement submitted during the pretrial of Majors’ domestic violence trail and obtained by the Times (which, per the report, was ultimately not permitted to be submitted to evidence), Duncan alleged that Majors “threatened to strangle and kill her” in 2016. That same year, she also claims that he “slammed her body into their mailbox” during an argument, leaving bruises on her back and arms. A year later, she says he threw her onto the ground and bruised her head with his own.

Hooper’s relationship with Majors briefly overlapped with Duncan’s (though neither woman knew at the time). In the pretrial statement obtained by the Times, Hooper claims she was “not allowed to speak to anyone about their relationship, isolating her from a support system.” She also recalled getting pregnant several months into her relationship, and Majors refusing to pick her up at the clinic after she underwent an abortion. Led to believe Majors would not allow her to discuss the procedure with anyone else, Hooper says she walked herself home. “I felt trapped and alone,” she told the Times.

After their breakup, Hooper recalled, Majors discovered she was in a relationship with someone he knew. She claims he called her on the phone to tell her she was a “whore” and said, “I hope you die; kill yourself” and “I’m going to rip you out of my heart the way they ripped our baby out of you.”

She and Duncan also both claim that Majors repeatedly threatened to kill himself throughout their relationship.

In interviews with cast and crew from HBO’s Lovecraft Country, several more people recalled ways in which Majors’ demeanor vacillated depending who was around, often proving prone to arguments with women. Jessica Pollini, Lisa Zugschwerdt and several other female crewmembers recalled incidents of feeling threatened by Majors while on set, and corroborated that his behavior made it difficult for them to do their jobs.

The Times report states that Pollini, Zugschwerdt and a third female crewmember eventually submitted a complaint to HBO about Majors, which resulted in the actor being told to apologize. Pollini claimed his apology chalked the incident up to a “misunderstanding.”

Chaudry said Majors “has never been told that anyone objected to his behavior.”

A rep for HBO did not immediately respond to The Hollywood Reporter‘s request for comment.

Feb. 9, 5 a.m. Updated to include Chaudry’s comments

Author: Editors Desk

Source: THR (The Hollywood Reporter)

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