Disgraced actor Jonathan Majors‘ attempts at rehabilitating his image have hit a snag, as recordings in which he seemingly admits to acts of abuse similar to those he was accused and found guilty of have surfaced. Rolling Stone has acquired audio recordings of Majors admitting to having strangled and pushed then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. In the tape, which captures a conversation between Majors and Jabbari in the wake of an extended argument between the two, Majors claims “I’m ashamed I’ve ever — I’ve never [been] aggressive with a woman before. I’ve never aggressed a woman — I aggressed you.” Jabbari replies, “You strangled me and pushed me against the car.”
Majors answers, “Yes, all those things are under ‘aggressed,’ yeah. That’s never happened to me.” She continues, “Because I said something sarcastically, in your eyes?” He responds, “Well clearly, it’s more than that.” Jabbari says, “Something inside of you,” and Majors replies, “Yeah, towards you.” at which point the tape ends. The tape was recorded in September 2022, several months before the 2023 domestic abuse incident he was arrested for; previous instances of abuse, including the one mentioned in the tape, were blocked from being shared at Majors’ trial.
What Was Jonathan Majors Convicted Of?
Following a number of acclaimed turns in films including Creed III and Devotion, Majors had secured a major role in the MCU as the time-traveling villain Kang the Conqueror, and received excellent reviews for his performance as an aspiring bodybuilder in the indie drama Magazine Dreams, which was acquired by Searchlight Pictures after a successful debut at Sundance. He appeared to be on track to become one of Hollywood’s hottest new actors until he was arrested in March 2023, and charged with assault and harassment.
The actor maintained his innocence, but was ultimately found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment; he was given a conditional discharge and sentenced to take a year-long counseling program, avoiding a possible one-year prison sentence. In the wake of his conviction, he was fired from the MCU and from the film 48 Hours in Vegas, in which he was to have played Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman. Magazine Dreams was also dropped by Searchlight.
Following its rejection by Searchlight, Magazine Dreams was acquired by Briarcliff Distribution, which also distributed the controversial Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice. In his Sundance 2023 review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it a “difficult and challenging watch, bolstered by an incredible performance by Majors that could easily end up being one of the year’s best.” It is slated to be released this month.
Magazine Dreams will be released in theaters on March 21, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Magazine Dreams
- Release Date
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March 21, 2025
- Runtime
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124 minutes
- Director
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Elijah Bynum
- Writers
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Elijah Bynum
- Producers
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Dan Gilroy, Jennifer Fox, Simon Horsman, Jonathan Majors, Jeffrey Soros, Andrew Blau
Source: Rolling Stone
