One of the most successful branches of The Walt Disney Company is Marvel Studios. From the time Disney purchased Marvel back in 2009, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has raked in billions of dollars for the House of Mouse. Some actors and actresses in the films are known before their roles, but other lesser-known actors are shot to superstardom once they nab a key role. One of those people who shot to the forefront after their first Marvel appearance is Jonathan Majors — who played Kang in the Disney+ series, Loki.
Kang was not only being set up to be the villain in Loki, but he is also poised to be the big, bad villain in Phase 5 of the MCU. He also appeared in several hit movies, including Magazine Dreams and Creed III. Majors was also tapped to be the spokesperson in the Army’s new “Be All That You Can Be” ads. He was on a meteoric rise that was showing no signs of slowing down.
All of that came to a screeching halt in late March.
On March 26, news broke that Majors had been arrested on brutal assault charges against an unnamed woman. According to the arrest records, Majors was accused of assaulting the woman during a domestic incident. Majors was booked on charges of assault, harassment, and strangulation. He was quickly released on his own recognizance.
Not long after he was released, Majors released text messages between him and the 30-year-old woman. In those text messages, the woman takes the blame for his arrest. She does not say that Majors did not assault her, but she blamed herself, saying that she should not have tried to take his phone.
On May 9, the embattled actor appeared virtually before a Manhattan judge. During the hearing, the District Attorney’s office announced that they were adding an additional third-degree assault charge. If convicted, Majors could spend up to a year behind bars, with years of probation following his release.
After the hearing, Majors’ attorney — Priya Chaudhry — slammed the charges against the actor. She claimed that Majors was being targeted because of “racial bias”. Chaudry’s statement was shared via Deadline Hollywood.
“We have provided the District Attorney with irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video proof showing nothing happened, especially not where she claimed,” the lawyer said. “We did this with the explicit promise from the DA that they would not “fix” their case and change it as we proved the woman is lying.”
“This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims,” Chaudhry went on to say, citing a “glaring double standard” in a statement to Deadline. “Instead of dismissing the allegations in the face of the woman’s clear lies, the DA has adjusted the charges to match the woman’s new lies. To be clear, there are no new charges against Mr. Majors.”
Now, we have obtained even more video evidence of his innocence, but we are hesitant to share it, for fear the DA will tip the woman off to change her story again.
The criminal justice system is saturated with explicit and implicit bias. When Mr. Majors showed a white police officer the injuries the woman caused him, the white officer got in Mr. Majors’ face and taunted him, saying that if the officer were to slap Mr. Majors, the officer wouldn’t break his finger. None of the white officers present investigated the assault of Mr. Majors. Worse, the District Attorney has not indicated any intention to pursue charges against the woman, or even investigate the truth.
On the night of the alleged incident, the woman claimed that Majors’ hit her in the face, causing a cut behind her ear. He also allegedly grabbed her hand violently and twisted it behind her back. The woman said, “I further observed the defendant grab my right arm, place it behind my body, and use his hands to twist my right forearm and right middle finger, causing substantial pain to my right forearm and right middle finger.”
Majors did not speak during his virtual appearance. The judge set the next hearing for June 13. She informed Majors that he must appear in person for that hearing.
Since his arrest, Majors’ life and career have been in a downward spiral. He has been dropped by both his management company and his PR team. The Army has also pulled all of its ads featuring Majors.
At this time, Disney has not commented on the charges levied against Majors. He is still scheduled to appear in season two of Loki, as well as Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
