Jonathan Majors' lawyer has disclosed alleged text messages that they claim show the unidentified woman "disavowed any allegations" against the Marvel actor, according to People (American weekly magazine).
In the text exchange allegedly between Majors and the woman, she wrote, "They assured me that you won't be charged. They said they had to arrest you as protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight." The woman, who said she "just got out of the hospital," wrote, "I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone."
The texts also show the woman saying "this was not an attack" and denying that Majors strangled her. She allegedly wrote that the 911 call had to do with "me collapsing and passing out and your worry as my partner due to our communication prior. Out of care."
The Creed III actor, 33, was charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment by the Manhattan District Attorney's office following an arrest in New York City on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the district attorney's office confirmed to PEOPLE Thursday that there is still an "active and ongoing investigation."
Jonathan Majors' Defense Claims Evidence Shows He Is "Completel...
The alleged victim has not been identified by police and it is unclear whether she has her own legal representation.
Majors' lawyer Priya Chaudhry said in a statement Thursday that the actor "completely denies assaulting the woman. Around 11 a.m. on March 25, 2023, Jonathan Majors called 911 out of concern for the woman's mental health. The police arrived with the paramedics, as is standard procedure, and arrested Mr. Majors due to an NYPD protocol requiring arrest in certain circumstances."
"On that same day, only seven and nine hours later, the woman sent text messages to Mr. Majors admitting that she was the one who used physical force against him," Chaudhry claimed. "She also disavowed any allegations that he had done anything to her and confirmed that Mr. Majors called 911 because of her mental condition."
The actor has been charged with three counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree, and harassment in the second degree.
Documents obtained by PEOPLE show the woman told police that Majors allegedly "[struck] her about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear," as well as allegedly grabbed her hand and neck "causing bruising and substantial pain."
Amid the controversy around the case and many unanswered questions, it's important not to jump to any conclusions, says Carol Wick, president and CEO of Sharity Inc., who is on the UN Women – Violence Against Women Expert Roster with experience in domestic violence advocacy. Though she has no connection to this specific case, she tells PEOPLE that victims sometimes "start to question why they would want their partner arrested."
"A lot of the gaslighting that happens in abusive relationships is to convince victims that the abuse they've suffered is their fault. The coercive control part of this, the nonviolent part of this, is really all about positioning the perpetrator's behavior as the victim's fault," says Wick.
"How someone experiences trauma is different for every single person. Really, what we should be thinking about is the safety of a victim and encouraging people who are accused of something to get the help they need so that their relationships are safe and healthy, whatever that might be," Wick says.
"Every time someone makes a comment and victim-blames on social media in one of these cases, somebody out there is experiencing abuse and they're reading that comment and it's encouraging them not to say anything and not to speak up. And that's not good."
Wick adds, "Weighing this in the court of public opinion is never a good thing. … At the end of the day, the message we all should be saying very clearly is it's never okay to have violence in your relationship, and understanding that the violence is only a portion of what goes on."
Following the arrest, Majors' attorney maintained in a statement shared on Sunday with PEOPLE that the actor is "completely innocent and is probably 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 that 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."
