Actor Jonathan Majors is in a world of trouble. His hot-as-a-pistol movie career is in peril– dire peril — after his arrest this past weekend.
Majors — accused by his girlfriend — was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court later Saturday on six counts of third-degree assault, three counts of third degree attempted assault and two counts of harassment.
Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry — she handles high profile cases for celebrity men accused by women of a variety of misdeeds — says the actor is innocent, she the proof, and it will all come out in their favor pretty soon.
Of course, the accusing girlfriend could withdraw her complaint, say she was mistaken, and take a nice hefty settlement under a non disclosure agreement. This happens all the time. If so, we’ll never know if Majors was innocent, or if the accuser was just looking for a payday.
In the meantime, Majors’ meteoric rise in the business has been tainted. His two big movies are already well into release, and have made their money. This scandal won’t hurt “Creed III” or “Ant Man 3.”
But it’s already involved the US Army ad campaign being pulled. Even if he’s exonerated, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Majors doing recruitment any time soon.
And then there’s his big Sundance movie, “Magazine Dreams,” in which he plays a deranged body builder. Disney Searchlight bought it for Christmas and Oscar release. How can this not come up in the interviews?
Disney has a lot invested in Majors. He’s part of the Marvel Universe. His Kang the Conqueror is in “Ant Man” and set to be the villain in two new “Avengers” movies. And now former classmates of Majors from his days at Yale and Juilliard are creeping out of the woodwork to decry him as a real life villain. So far their comments have only appeared in online blogs, but things could get worse before they get better.
As I wrote over the weekend, I met Majors at the Oscars. He was soft spoken and friendly. There was no indication of trouble coming, or the behavior that’s been whispered about online.
Remember– innocent until proven guilty means more now than ever.
PS The New York tabloids, particularly the Post, are curiously quiet. Why is that? In the past this would be raw meat thrown at lions.
