Jonathan Majors should not pursue legal action against a woman who accused him of assault after allegedly shely recanted her statement, even though he could seek to file a defamation lawsuit.
Police arrested the 33-year-old creed 3 star on Saturday in Chelsea, New York City and he appeared in the Manhattan Criminal Court later that evening to face charges of two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment and attempted assault.
Prosecutors claimed Majors slapped the 30-year-old woman, believed to be his girlfriend, in a cab, “causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear,” and also put his hands on her neck “causing bruising and substantial pain.”
Representatives for the actor maintained his innocence and his lawyers claimed “they are gathering and presenting evidence” for prosecutors, including video footage and witness testimony from the driver to provide to the district attorney “with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently.”
Even if the accuser has recanted her accusations and criminal charges against Majors are dropped “this legal matter may be far from over,” according to New York attorney, Frank Salzano.
Hey told Newsweek that while “Majors could seek to file a defamation lawsuit against the accuser for making a false public statement” he would advise the actor not to pursue it.
“Defamation claims are always tricky because the ‘truth’ is an absolute defense and any such claim for defamation would result in all the facts and circumstances surrounding the night in question being relevant and discoverable in any court proceeding,” said the managing partner of Salzano Ettinger Lampert & Wilson law firm.
“If the accuser’s claims are proven to be false and made with intent to harm Major, then the accuser could be looking also at a malicious prosecution (or) abuse of process claim, however those are a less likely outcome,” he said.
Salzano added: “Situations of this nature regarding public figures are very complex in nature because on one hand, inaction by Majors may be viewed publicly as a tacit admission of some wrongdoing, however, an affirmative claim for defamation by Majors keeps this matter in the public arena that much longer.
“If Majors was my client, I would advise him to seek a public retraction by the accuser and then move on and not file a defamation claim. Majors is rising star in Hollywood.”
Majors has enjoyed a meteoric ascent in Hollywood since appearing in the cult sci-fi hit Lovecraft Country on Apple TV+.
“The news was shocking and disappointing given the rise of Jonathan Majors in a short amount of time. He’s become Hollywood’s new darling,” film critic Emmanuel “E-man” Noisette told Newsweek.
Majors really hit the big time after he was introduced as Marvel’s latest over-arching villain when he debuted as Kang the Conqueror in the Disney+ series, Loki.
Majors recently starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opposite Paul Rudd and will also appear in the upcoming Marvel features, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025 other Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026.
The actor made his Academy Awards debut earlier in March when he presented an award with his creed 3 co-star, Michael B. Jordan.
One of the first negative consequences of his arrest came when the US Army pulled advertisements Majors appears in.
He narrated two of the Army’s “Be All You Can Be” campaign ads, which they took off the air until the investigations against him are concluded.
“The US Army is aware of the arrest of Jonathan Majors and we are deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest…while Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete, “Army Enterprise Marketing Office public affairs chief Laura DeFrancisco said in a statement.
Jonathan Majors should not pursue legal action against a woman who accused him of assault after allegedly shely recanted her statement, even though he could seek to file a defamation lawsuit.
