- By Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News
Attorneys for Jonathan Majors say he was actually the victim of an argument with a woman he knew.
Creed III actor Jonathan Majors has been accused of assault and harassment following an incident involving a woman at his New York apartment.
A 30-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted by Majors on Saturday following a domestic dispute.
The actor’s lawyers have denied any wrongdoing.
They suggested the 33-year-old was actually the victim of a “fight”.
The NYPD said they were called at 11:14 a.m. local time Saturday after receiving a 911 call from an apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea district.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was hospitalized with minor injuries to her head and neck, they said.
According to Variety magazine, she claims in her complaint that Majors slapped her and placed his hand on her neck, injuring her and causing her “substantial pain.”
Major’s criminal defense attorney, Priya Chowdhury, said there was video footage and witness testimony to support their claim that she was the victim, and that the woman she knew had recanted her allegations.
Ms Chowdhury added that she expects all charges against her client to be dropped soon.
Majors is no longer in police custody.
Following his arrest on Saturday, the US military announced it was temporarily pulling ads featuring the actor as part of a campaign to aid recruitment efforts.
The Army’s Office of Enterprise Marketing said in a statement that while “majors are innocent until proven guilty,” it would be “prudent” to remove the ads pending an investigation into the allegations.
Majors was arrested just weeks after the actor’s Oscar presentation.
His career took off after breaking through in 2019’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, before he starred in the Netflix western The Harder the Fall and the Marvel Comics film Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantum of Solace.
Majors plays co-star Michael B Jordan’s opponent in the boxing film Creed III, which was released earlier this month.
