Jonathan Majors Says Assault Trial Made Him Unpack Childhood Sexual Abuse: ‘There Are No Excuses’

In an extensive profile with The Hollywood Reporter, Jonathan Majors opened up about how his assault and harassment trial forced him to unpack his childhood trauma and behavior in previous relationships.

Majors—who was convicted of assault and harassment against his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari—revealed how he was subjected to sexual abuse as a child that led to depression as an adult. It was only as he sat on trial for allegedly emotionally and physically abusing his ex-girlfriend that he was forced to unpack his trauma through therapy and conversations with his pastor.

"I dealt with sexual abuse from both men and women from the time I was 9,” Majors shared. "From people who are supposed to look after you, in the absence of a father. I was fucked up." He said he spoke with his mother about the experiences and she apologized for not doing more to protect him. "I’m like, ‘It’s not even an issue, mom. I just want you to know. And now we can all get busy and continue to connect and grow and learn from it, because it’s something that was in our family,'" he added.

When tackling the trauma head-on, he said that it allowed him to reflect on his past relationships and some of his more troubling behavior. "There are no excuses, but by getting help, you begin to understand things about yourself," he said. Majors was arrested for assaulting Jabbari in 2023 and was ultimately found guilty of one count of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment as a violation. He was sentenced to 52 weeks of probation and a domestic violence intervention program.

Elsewhere in the profile, several of Majors former co-stars offered sympathy to the actor and suggested that there's potential for him to make a comeback someday. Matthew McConaughey, who starred alongside Majors in 2018's White Boy Rick, said that he believes in the troubled actor and sees that he is "striving to improve as a human, a man and an actor." Michael B. Jordan, who directed and co-starred with him in Creed III, said he's willing to work with him again. "I would love to make Creed IV together," he said, "among other projects."

Majors was fired from his role as Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following his conviction, and Searchlight Pictures pulled his drama movie Magazine Dreams from its schedule. The film has since been picked up by distributor Briarcliff Entertainment and is set to hit theaters nationwide on March 21.

While he hasn't had any new work since his conviction—outside of being attached to star in Martin Villeneuve's revenge-thriller Merciless—Majors has indicated that he would love to continue acting. "Do I hope to make more movies? Absolutely. That is my intention. But that’s not my call. I don’t have a studio. And I’ve given up control," he said. "I would tell [studios] I'm still learning, and I would thank them for participating in my growth."