Related video: Jonathan Majors court date
Jonathan Majors’ ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari is expected to finish testifying today, marking her fourth day on the stand in his assault trial.
Texts related to a separate incident emerged. Dated September 2022, the texts suggested the actor had injured her head and then urged her not to report it to the hospital.
Ms Jabbari was previously forced to watch footage from the 25 March incident, showing officers finding her in a closet inside Mr Majors’ Manhattan apartment. This reportedly prompted her to break down in tears while on the stand.
On Friday, her friend Holly Barkley, a choreographer, testified that Jabbari called her after the incident. “She sounded like I’d never heard her before, quite quiet, quiet wrecked, sounded like she was in shock,” Barkley said.
The choreographer commented on how Ms Jabbari changed throughout her relationship with Mr Majors: she looked “much thinner, and she saw her friends a lot less.”
In previous testimony, Ms Jabbari alleged that Mr Majors attacked her in a car after she took his phone to examine a text suggesting he was cheating on her.
Mr Majors has been supported by his current girlfriend, Meagan Good, each day in court this week.
Inside Ms Jabbari’s psychology
Ms Jabbari was asked on Friday why she didn’t tell doctors how she was injured in March 2023.
“I was scared of the consequences,” Ms Jabbari said. “I guess I still wanted to protect him.”
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 20:15
Jonathan Majors’ texts reveal harrowing incident in September 2022
Prosecutors showed Grace Jabbari text messages from September 2022 regarding an unrelated episode while the pair were living together in London. The texts, according to reports, revealed that Majors warned against his then-girlfriend from reporting her head injuries to a hospital.
No further details of the incident were available, as they were precluded from being shown to jurors. However, People reported that a filing alluded to the incident: “medical records from London related to an incident that occurred in September 2022.”
“Did the defendant try to dissuade you from getting medical attention?” a prosecutor asked Ms Jabbari. “Yes,” she replied.
“I fear you have no perspective of what could happen if you go to the hospital,” Majors texted, according to the outlet. “They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to investigation even if you do lie, and they suspect something.”
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 19:15
Jabbari’s transformation, according to a friend
Holly Blakey, a choreographer, testified about her friend, dancer Grace Jabbari. Ms Blakey said she noticed a change in her friend over the course of her relationship with Majors.
At first, the pair seemed “very in love” and “very excited”, Ms Blakey said, according to reports.
However, she later noticed: “Over time, I would say [Jabbari] lost a lot of weight, first thing I noticed. Much thinner, and she saw her friends a lot less.”
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 17:15
Next up to the witness stand: Holly Blakey, a British choreographer
Grace Jabbari reportedly called Ms Blakey, a choreographer and her friend, on 26 March — one day after the alleged assault, according to a Courthouse News reporter.
“She sounded like I’d never heard her before, quite quiet, quiet wrecked, sounded like she was in shock,” Ms Blakey told jurors.
The choreographer also told the court that when she first met Majors, she found him to be a ”very sweet and charming person.”
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 16:51
25 March, 2023 — Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York on five misdemeanour charges of assault, harassment, and strangulation after he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.
He was handed three counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, per People.
26 March, 2023 — Mr Majors’ attorney releases a statement claiming that he’s innocent and actually the victim of a crime.
“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently,” his attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said.
26 March, 2023 — The US Army pulls recruiting advertisements featuring Mr Majors following the arrest.
18 April, 2023 — Mr Majors’ public relations firm reportedly parts ways with the actor.
27 April, 2023 — Judge grants Grace Jabbari a full temporary order of protection against Mr Majors.
9 May, 2023 — Mr Majors appears in court for the first time.
21 June, 2023 — Mr Majors filed a domestic violence complaint against Ms Jabbari.
25 October, 2023 — Ms Jabbari is arrested on charges of assault and criminal mischief. The Manhattan DA’s office ultimately decided not to pursue a case against the woman.
29 November, 2023 — Trial begins.
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 16:30
Prosecutors revisit a September 2022 encounter
Prosecutors showed Majors’ ex-girlfriend text messages from September 2022 regarding an unrelated incident, in which he allegedly warned her about going to the hospital.
“Did the defendant try to dissuade you from getting medical attention?” prosecutors asked Ms Jabbari. “Yes,” she replied.
“Why would I tell them what really happened if I feel like I want to be with you?” Jabbari asked Majors after he warned her against seeking medical attention for her injuries.
“I will tell the doctor I bumped my head,” Jabbari says in a text, according to reports. “I will not go to the doctor if you don’t feel safe with me doing so.”
“It’s just fake,” Majors’ text apparently said. “And I fear you have no perspective what could happen if you go the hospital, they will ask you questions….it will lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.”
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 16:30
‘This is going to make me sick’
Grace Jabbari pleaded to not have to watch the footage of the incident again on Thursday.
Majors’ attorney played a surveillance video repeatedly that showed Majors lifting Jabbari — his girlfriend of two years — and thrusting her into the chauffeured car.
The video allegedly showed Majors assaulting Jabbari in the backseat, sparking tears and pleas to not show the emotional video again.
“There’s no need to apologize, it’s emotional, if you need time let us know,” Judge Michael Gaffey told Jabbari when she returned to the courtroom after stepping out to sob, according to the New York Post.
Kelly Rissman8 December 2023 15:30
Jonathan Majors demanded ‘total compliance’ from ex-girlfriend
This week, the court heard that Jonathan Majors held his ex-gifriend Grace Jabbari to impossibly high standards, allegedly telling her that she “needs to live up to the standards of Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King’s wife, and Michelle Obama.”
According to prosecutors, Mr Majors once told her, “I am a great man — a great man” and “demanded from Grace Jabbari total compliance.”
Michelle Del Rey8 December 2023 14:30
Grace Jabbari describes how the media attention on the case has impacted her life
“It’s a lot of unwanted attention over a very difficult part of my life,” Ms Jabbari told the jury on Wednesday, according to The Messenger.
She said she “had to tell friends and family everything and that has been really hard.
“It felt like that abuse that I was in has just not ended.”
Michelle Del Rey8 December 2023 12:30
