Jonathan Majors' Arrest Provokes Furious Twitter Reaction

When news of Jonathan Majors' arrest on Saturday morning went public, social media users took to Twitter to share their opinions on the actor.

Police arrested the Marvel star, 33, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City after receiving complaints of a domestic disturbance in which he allegedly assaulted a woman believed to be his girlfriend.

Majors faced court on Saturday evening on charges of two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment and attempted assault.

The Creed III star is accused of hitting a 30-year-old woman, "causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear," according to police. He also allegedly put his hands on her neck "causing bruising and substantial pain."

Representatives for Majors have said the actor is innocent and claimed the woman has since recanted her allegations.

Jonathan Majors' Arrest Provokes Furious Black Twitter Reaction

Majors' criminal defense lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement shared with Newsweek earlier this week that the actor himself called 911 "due to concern for [his accuser's] mental health."

"Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently," Chaudhry said in a statement.

"This evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations. All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever.

"Unfortunately, this incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday. The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested. We expect these charges to be dropped soon."

The reaction to Majors' arrest led some Black Twitter users to claim that the huge response was because of the actor's race. Several people contrasted the reaction with the treatment of stars like Ezra Miller and Dana White.

One Twitter user said: "In 24 hours Jonathan Majors has already received more press attention for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend than Dana White did for being caught on video slapping his wife around. I wonder whyTE."

Another person added: "Hold up! Dana White is on video slapping his wife, people are said 'we don't know the whole story' let's not rush to judgements. Jonathan Majors gets accused with zero proof coming out and in a span of 24 hours people saying he should be cancelled? The math ain't adding up."

One person also wrote: "I know y'all hate Black men, but saying Jonathan Majors' 'abusive behavior is being brought to light'... w/o any knowledge of what actually happened is wild.

"In America, white men have to be proven guilty. Black men have to be proven innocent."

Others shared how the actor was instantly vilified, particularly given how the circumstances around the arrest were later revealed following the initial report.

One Twitter user wrote: "I'm really glad I didn't comment on the Jonathan Majors issue. Because now look. The alleged victim recanted her statement saying she falsely reported assault due to 'emotional crisis.' Please tell me how this is okay. Y'all were ready to crucify this man alive. And now look."

They added in a follow-up Tweet: "It's fascinating I never said I defend him or he's innocent. I literally said I'm glad I didn't offer commentary because the alleged victim recanted. This makes the case that much more complex. Reading comprehension and understanding is lacking on this app."

Another user commented: "Jonathan Majors was the one who called 911 out of concern for his girlfriend. And when the police arrived, she changed up her story and they arrested him. Why did these details get left out of the narrative?"

While another person wrote: "Wait, Jonathan Majors called the police on his girlfriend because she was having "an emotional episode" but HE got arrested?!!"

In contrast, one person commented on how Majors had been charged with several assault and harassment charges on Sunday.

The Twitter user wrote: "Y'all said she 'recanted' her statement and 'video evidence' would prove him innocent yesterday because his DEFENSE lawyer said it and they charged him today. Goes to show y'all haven't learned anything at all."

In response to this user, another person commented: "I thought we made progress after Johnny Depp & Tory Lanez. But nope we're back at square one with Jonathan Majors. Just been smh since Saturday."

Another added: "Jonathan Majors's Attorney says the VIDEO FOOTAGE will show what happened + witness statements & the woman HERSELF has 2 written statements RECANTING the allegations. Allegedly she was having an "emotional crisis" AGAIN this is why I like to wait to receive ALL of the evidence."

One person also said of the incident: "I seriously hope Jonathan Majors' victim is okay and has a support system because the disregard she's going to get from people that care more about their crush on him or his celebrity is going to be horrific."

Correction 03/29/23 3:26 a.m. ET: This article was updated to amend a typo in the statement from Jonathan Majors' criminal defense lawyer, Priya Chaudhry.