Who is Jonathan Majors? Why Was He Arrested? (Everything To Know)

Actor Jonathan Majors, known for his roles in Marvel’s Loki and Creed III, was arrested on March 26, 2023, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The charges against him include assault, strangulation, and harassment, following a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman who sustained minor injuries to her head and neck.

Majors denies the allegations, and his attorney released text messages from the woman recanting her accusations. The United States Army suspended recruiting commercials featuring Majors after his arrest.

Majors had recently talked about his character, Kang the Conqueror, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealing that he and director Destin Daniel Crettin had spoken at length about how Kang would fit into Phase 5 of the series.

Who is Jonathan Majors?

Jonathan Michael Majors, an American actor, gained recognition after his outstanding performance in the independent feature film The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) following his graduation from Yale University with an MFA degree. His popularity increased even more in 2020 when he starred in the HBO television series Lovecraft Country, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Majors continued to impress audiences with his roles in various films, including his portrayal of Nat Love in the western The Harder They Fall (2021), Jesse L. Brown in the war film Devotion (2022), and a boxer in the sports film Creed III (2023). Furthermore, he has also made appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2021, playing different versions of the character Kang the Conqueror.

Jonathan Majors Early life

Born in Santa Barbara County, California, Majors spent his early years on the Vandenberg military base with his mother, older sister, and younger brother, while his father was in the US Air Force. In 2020, Majors revealed that his father disappeared one day and resurfaced 17 years later, but he has since reconnected with him. The family moved around several cities in Texas, including Dallas, Georgetown, and Cedar Hill, where he attended Cedar Hill High School and graduated from Duncanville High School in 2008.

Majors had a tough childhood, surrounded by recently-released criminals like drug dealers or murderers who wore ankle monitors as neighbors. As a teenager, he got arrested for shoplifting, suspended from high school for fighting, and was once homeless, living in his car while working two jobs after being kicked out of his house.

He eventually found refuge in the world of theater, where he felt a sense of belonging and joined after being inspired by Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. The complexity of good and evil portrayed in the character resonated with him, given his experience growing up around individuals with moralistic dualities.

Majors pursued his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and later attended the Yale School of Drama, where he earned an MFA degree in 2016.

Jonathan Majors Career

Jonathan Majors is an American actor who was born in Santa Barbara County, California, and had a challenging childhood. He found solace in theatre and decided to become an actor after watching Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Majors studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the Yale School of Drama.

He received his first onscreen role in the ABC miniseries When We Rise, and later starred in films such as Hostiles, White Boy Rick, and The Last Black Man in San Francisco. He gained wider notice for his performances in Da 5 Bloods, Lovecraft Country, and The Harder They Fall. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he portrayed Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Jonathan Majors Personal life

Actor Jonathan Majors, who has a daughter, was arrested on March 25, 2023, on charges of assault, strangulation, and harassment following a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries to her head and neck. Majors was released from custody on the same day and his spokesperson denied the allegations, with his lawyer later releasing text messages from the woman recanting the allegations.

On March 26, Majors was arraigned in a New York City court on several charges related to the arrest. Following his arrest, the United States Army suspended recruiting commercials that starred Majors until the investigation into the allegations is complete, though his lawyer stated that the woman recanted the allegations in two written statements.

Why was Jonathan Majors arrested?

Jonathan Majors, an actor, was arrested in Manhattan, New York on March 25, 2023, on charges of strangulation, assault, and harassment after a woman called 911. The victim claimed that Majors had “struck her about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear,” according to the Manhattan DA’s office. The woman was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries to her head and neck. Majors was arraigned on several assault and harassment charges on Sunday, March 26, 2023, and is expected to appear in court on May 8, 2023.

Majors denies the allegations of assault and claims his innocence. His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, says that they are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently. According to Chaudhry, Majors is “probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.” She also said that her team has obtained “two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”

Days after the arrest, Chaudhry shared alleged text messages to several outlets like Entertainment Tonight, which shows a woman texting Majors that she was angry about the actor’s charges. The text messages allegedly show that the woman admitted that she was the one who used physical force against him and disavowed any allegations that Majors had done anything to her.

The U.S. Army suspended its TV ad campaign featuring Majors that was intended to target younger audiences pending an investigation into the incident. A representative for the U.S. Armed Forces said in a statement that the Army is “deeply concerned about the allegations.”

List of all Jonathan Majors Movies

Here is the filmography of Jonathan Majors:

Film:

2017: Hostiles as Corporal Henry Woodson
2018: White Boy Rick as Johnny “Lil Man” Curry
2018: Out of Blue as Duncan J. Reynolds
2019: The Last Black Man in San Francisco as Montgomery Allen
2019: Captive State as Rafe Drummond
2019: Gully as Greg
2019: Jungleland as Pepper
2020: Da 5 Bloods as David
2021: The Harder They Fall as Nat Love / Nathaniel Buck
2022: Devotion as Jesse Brown
2023: Magazine Dreams as Killian Maddox
2023: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as Kang the Conqueror
2023: Creed III as Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson

Television:

2017: When We Rise as Young Ken Jones (4 episodes)
2020: Lovecraft Country as Atticus Sampson “Tic” Freeman (main role)
2021-present: Loki as Time Keepers / He Who Remains / Victor Timely (Episodes: “The Nexus Event” and “For All Time. Always.”)
2022: Saturday Night Live as Himself (host) (Episode: “Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift”)