Grace Jabbari: Criminal Trial, Civil Lawsuit, and Settlement

Grace Jabbari is a British dancer and movement coach whose 2023 domestic assault complaint against actor Jonathan Majors led to his misdemeanor conviction in a Manhattan criminal court, followed by a civil lawsuit she filed in March 2024 and settled that November. She met Majors on the London set of a Marvel film where she worked as a movement coach, and their roughly two-year relationship ended with his arrest, a jury verdict against him on two counts, and a confidential settlement of her broader civil claims.

Who Grace Jabbari Is

Jabbari was born in Reading, United Kingdom, and trained at Tring Park School for Performing Arts before earning a first-class bachelor’s degree from Rambert School and a first-class master’s degree from Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Her performing career included touring with the Mark Bruce Company, live shows for Florence and the Machine and Damien Rice, and international touring with the Russell Maliphant Dance Company beginning in 2016.¹

Alongside performing, she worked as a movement coach in film. That work brought her onto the London set of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in August 2021, where she met Jonathan Majors.²³ The two began a relationship that lasted about two years.

The March 2023 Arrest

On March 25, 2023, police responded to a Chelsea apartment in Manhattan and arrested Majors after an alleged domestic dispute with Jabbari, then 30. She was taken to a hospital with what officers described as minor injuries to her head and neck.⁴

Prosecutors said the altercation began in the back seat of a hired car after Jabbari grabbed Majors’ phone upon seeing a text from another woman. They alleged Majors pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back, and struck her face while trying to get the phone back, and that he later threw her back into the vehicle after both had stepped out. Majors returned home and called 911, telling the operator he thought Jabbari had attempted suicide.⁵

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed five misdemeanor counts the next day: three counts of third-degree assault, one count of second-degree harassment, and one count of aggravated harassment. Majors pleaded not guilty.⁵

The Criminal Trial

Trial began on November 29, 2023, before Judge Michael Gaffey.⁶ Jabbari took the stand on December 5 and described Majors as a “controlling, manipulative” partner with a “violent temper,” saying she felt she was “walking around on eggshells.” She testified that after the March incident her middle finger was nearly black with bruising, her ear was swollen with a gash behind it, and her hair was “caked with blood.”⁷

Prosecutors backed her account with surveillance footage of Majors picking Jabbari up and placing her into the vehicle, an X-ray showing a hairline fracture of her right middle finger, medical records of a two-centimeter cut behind her right ear, and September 2022 text messages in which Majors discouraged her from seeking medical care and threatened suicide.³

The defense argued Jabbari was the aggressor and had fabricated the allegations after Majors ended the relationship the night of the incident. The couple’s hired driver, Naveed Sarwar, testified that Majors was “not doing anything” while Jabbari “was doing everything.”⁸ Majors did not testify. Judge Gaffey barred evidence of prior alleged abuse, so the jury heard only limited references to earlier incidents in the relationship.⁹

Verdict and Sentence

On December 18, 2023, the jury found Majors guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree. He was acquitted of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment.⁶ The judge renewed a protective order barring Majors from contacting Jabbari.¹⁰

At sentencing on April 8, 2024, Judge Gaffey said jail was “not necessary.” He ordered Majors to complete a 52-week in-person domestic violence intervention program in Los Angeles, continue mental health counseling, and serve probation, and issued a full protective order for Jabbari. Gaffey warned that noncompliance with the program could result in up to 364 days in jail. Majors received time served on the harassment violation.¹¹

The professional consequences for Majors ran in parallel. His management firm and publicist dropped him after the arrest, and Marvel Studios confirmed after the verdict that it would not continue with him as the villain Kang the Conqueror; the character was later replaced in the studio’s storyline by Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom.¹²¹³

The Civil Lawsuit

In March 2024, Jabbari filed a federal civil suit against Majors in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 1:24-cv-02048).¹⁴ The complaint reached far beyond the single incident tried in criminal court, alleging a “pattern of pervasive domestic abuse” from 2021 to 2023 across New York, Los Angeles, and London. Her claims included battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and defamation, and she sought at least $75,000 in damages plus punitive damages.¹⁵

Two alleged incidents in the complaint had not been part of the criminal case:

A July 2022 encounter in Los Angeles in which she said Majors shouted in her face, pinned her arms, shoved her into a shower door, and threw her into a shower wall, causing her head to hit the wall.
A September 2022 incident in London in which she alleged Majors threw her against the hood of a car, placed her in a headlock, strangled her, and hit her head against a marble floor while saying he “wanted to kill her.”

The complaint also said Majors had discouraged her from seeking medical treatment by threatening suicide and warning that a hospital visit could trigger an investigation.¹⁴ The defamation claim grew out of Majors’ post-conviction statements, including an ABC News interview in which he said he had “never laid his hands on a woman,” which Jabbari argued amounted to calling her a liar.¹⁶

Settlement

On November 21, 2024, attorneys for both sides filed a joint notice in Manhattan federal court stating that “all claims against Defendant in the above-captioned action are hereby dismissed with prejudice,” which means they cannot be refiled.¹⁷ The terms were not disclosed. Jabbari’s attorney Brad Edwards said the case had been “successfully settled” and that it “took tremendous courage for Grace to pursue this case.”¹⁸ Her co-counsel Brittany Henderson said Jabbari had “exhibited tremendous courage throughout this very long and difficult process.” Majors’ representatives did not comment.¹⁹

The 2025 Leaked Audio

In March 2025, Rolling Stone published a September 2022 audio recording in which, when Jabbari says, “You strangled me and pushed me against the car,” Majors responds, “Yes, all those things are under ‘aggressed,’ yeah.” The recording matched the London incident described in her civil complaint but was not evidence the jury had heard, because prior-abuse evidence had been excluded at trial.⁹ The audio surfaced days before the theatrical release of Magazine Dreams, a film starring Majors that had been shelved by Searchlight Pictures after his arrest and later picked up by Briarcliff Entertainment.²⁰ Asked about the recording on the SHERRI Show, Majors said, “I can’t speak about it, but I do know there’s a plan and I’ve let go of control.”

Jabbari’s Own Voice

Jabbari was represented throughout the criminal proceedings by Sanctuary for Families, a New York nonprofit that provides legal and support services to survivors of domestic violence. Her attorney there, Ross Kramer, directs the organization’s Incarcerated Gender Violence Survivors Initiative. After the verdict, Kramer praised her “tremendous strength and resilience” and said he hoped “her actions will inspire other survivors to speak their truth and seek justice.”²¹

Jabbari has said little publicly on her own. The day after the verdict, she posted an Instagram Story asking followers to donate to Sanctuary for Families as a birthday gift, calling it “a charity that helped me so much this year,” and shared a graphic listing domestic violence support resources.²¹

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Russell Maliphant Dance Company. Grace Jabbari
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BBC. Jonathan Majors Trial
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Variety. Jonathan Majors Trial Texts Grace Jabbari
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NPR. Actor Jonathan Majors Arrested Assault New York City
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NBC News. Jonathan Majors Trial Timeline
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KOSU. Jonathan Majors Avoids Jail Time in Assault and Harassment Sentencing
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USA Today. Jonathan Majors Assault Trial Video Evidence Unsealed
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Courthouse News Service. NYC Prosecutors Rest Case in Jonathan Majors Domestic Violence Trial
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Rolling Stone. Jonathan Majors Audio Strangling Ex-Girlfriend
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ABC News. Jonathan Majors Verdict Domestic Violence Trial
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The Hollywood Reporter. Jonathan Majors Sentence Domestic Violence Intervention Program
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Deadline. Jonathan Majors Marvel Fired Guilty Verdict
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Newsweek. Jonathan Majors New Superhero Role After Being Fired Marvel
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Courthouse News Service. Jabbari v. Majors Civil Complaint
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The Hollywood Reporter. Jonathan Majors Sued for Defamation Assault and Battery
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ABC News. Jonathan Majors Girlfriend Drops Defamation Assault Lawsuit
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Variety. Jonathan Majors Grace Jabbari Lawsuit Dropped
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NPR. Jonathan Majors Grace Jabbari Case Settled Dismissed
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The Guardian. Jonathan Majors Girlfriend Lawsuit
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The Atlantic. Magazine Dreams Review Jonathan Majors
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People. Jonathan Majors Ex Grace Jabbari Thanks Sanctuary for Families