Jonathan Majors has been arraigned on charges of harassment and assault
Actor Jonathan Majors was arraigned in New York City on Sunday on several charges that he assaulted and harassed a woman the previous day. Majors is currently starring in the films Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III.
In a statement to NPR Tuesday, Majors' defense attorney, Priya Chaudhry, claimed that the woman has taken back her allegations in written statements and that Majors called 911 himself over concerns for her mental health.
On Wednesday, Chaudhry gave NPR screenshots of a series of texts, which are allegedly those purported statements sent by the woman to Majors. In the form given to NPR, these texts are undated and neither the names of the sender nor the recipient are visible.
The person sending the texts appears to have written that they have been assured by the authorities that Majors would not be charged, that they tried to grab Majors' phone during an argument, that they told police that Majors had not attacked them and that they did not support Majors being charged with any crimes.
The Manhattan district attorney's office told NPR on Wednesday that this continues to be an "active and ongoing investigation" and that they could not make further comment.
In a statement through Chaudhry, Majors has denied all the charges.
The New York City Police Department responded to a call last Saturday morning over a domestic dispute between a 33-year-old male and a 30-year-old woman in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. At the time, the woman told police she had been assaulted. As of Saturday evening, Majors was no longer in police custody and was released without bail.
In a statement to NPR last Saturday, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed: "Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition."
Over the weekend, the Army pulled a marketing campaign featuring Majors; the ads had been released at the start of the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament. In a statement Sunday to AP, the Army Enterprise Marketing Office said it is "deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest."
Recently, Majors has been enjoying a big publicity push: On NPR, Weekend Edition Sunday host Ayesha Roscoe interviewed Majors focusing on his "meteoric rise" as an actor. NPR published an extended cut of that interview on YouTube and Pop Culture Happy Hour.
This story was edited by Ciera Crawford.