Domestic violence trial against Johnathan Majors set for August

NEW YORK –

Actor Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence case will go to court on August 3, a Manhattan judge said Tuesday.

Judge Rachel Pauley wished Majors “good luck” in planning his trial. “Yes, ma’am,” Majors said as he stood with his lawyers outside Pauley’s bench in Manhattan Domestic Violence Court.

Majors, 33, is accused of twisting a woman’s arm, hitting her head and pushing her into a vehicle in New York City in March. He is charged with various misdemeanors, including assault, and faces up to a year’s imprisonment if convicted. His lawyer says he is innocent.

Tuesday’s hearing was his first time in court since just after his March 25 arrest in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. He appeared via video last month at a brief hearing in the case, where prosecutors announced they had revised the assault charge to reflect the prosecutor’s perspective on the Majors. In the original version, a police officer’s account was used.

Before his case was called Tuesday, Majors watched from the courtroom gallery — his lawyers and his girlfriend Meagan Good, who stars in the “Shazam!” movies, by his side.

Majors’ legal team, led by lawyer Priya Chaudhry, had pushed for the actor’s allegations to be dropped, claiming that evidence contradicts the allegations and that police and prosecutors have shown racial bias towards Majors, who is black.

Before scheduling Majors’ trial, the judge issued a sealed decision prompting Chaudhry to withdraw the court documents she had filed to challenge the case. Pauley provided copies of her ruling to Majors’ attorneys and prosecutors, but did not discuss details in open court.

Majors, who plays the villain Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel movies, appeared in court wearing a brown corduroy jacket and sunglasses. He said little other than his short conversation with the judge, which lasted no less than three minutes. He sometimes smiled during his trial in court, which was rescheduled for June 13.

Majors was a fast-rising Hollywood star with major roles in recent hits such as “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” But in the wake of his arrest, the US military pulled television commercials starring Majors, saying it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations.

Disney last month postponed Majors’ upcoming Marvel movie “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” from May 2025 to May 2026. He will also appear in “Avengers: Secret Wars” in 2027.

The prosecutor for Majors, a 30-year-old woman, alleges he pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back, punched and cut her ear, and pushed her into a vehicle, causing her to fall backwards. The woman, who is not named in the court papers, was treated at a hospital for minor head and neck injuries, police said.

Judge Pauley told Majors to continue to abide by a protective order that prohibits him from contacting his accuser. The judge also warned that an arrest warrant could be issued against him if he does not show up for his trial date.

Chaudhry claims the charges against Majors are baseless and that she has provided prosecutors with “irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video evidence showing nothing happened, especially where she claimed.”

The majors’ accuser hurt him, Chaudhry said, but when the actor tried to show his injuries to police, a white officer came in his face and mocked him.