Jonathan Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, says the assault case against him in a Manhattan court is a “witch hunt” motivated by “racial bias.”
The Creed III star appeared via Zoom in court on Tuesday to face revised domestic violence charges from an unnamed woman who says that Majors twisted her arm, struck her in the head, and shoved her into a vehicle on March 25.
Variety called the Tuesday court appearance “brief” — his defense team filed a motion to which the prosecution now has until May 23 to respond — and noted that Majors’ next court appearance has been set for June 13.
Chaudhry released a statement regarding her client on Tuesday, arguing that the woman who accused Majors of assault is “lying” and that Majors’ team has video evidence to prove it. Majors’ team previously released screenshots of text messages that Chaudhry says are between Majors and his accuser, which Chaudhry says prove the actor’s innocence.
When Was Jonathan Majors First Arrested and Why?
Majors was first arrested on March 25 after a domestic dispute with the unnamed woman. He was charged with several counts of assault and aggravated harassment.
According to the original criminal complaint, the woman was struck “about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear,” Variety noted at the time, and Majors was also accused of putting “his hand on her neck, causing bruising and substantial pain.”
The Manhattan DA’s office has since revised these charges to include those reflected in Tuesday’s arraignment.
Also Read: Michael B. Jordan on the Rise of Jonathan Majors and Working Together on Creed III: ‘It’s a Beautiful Thing’
But Chaudry refutes all of this and says the woman has been changing her story.
Here’s What Jonathan Majors’ Lawyer Says
“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. 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,” she wrote in a statement on Tuesday obtained by MovieMaker.
You can read the rest of Chaudhry’s full statement below.
“Yet this false case continues, the woman’s claimed location shifts, and her story morphs. This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims. 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.
“This glaring double standard between the treatment of Jonathan Majors, a Black man weighing 200 lbs, and his accuser, highlights the racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system.”
Main Image: London, United Kingdom – February 15, 2023: Jonathan Majors attends the European Premiere of Creed III at Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England. Courtesy of Shutterstock.