Marvel star Jonathan Majors’ former girlfriend Grace Jabbari sobbed on the stand while defense attorneys played police bodycam footage during her third day of testimony in the assault trial of the actor.
Jabbari, a 30-year-old British choreographer, has accused Majors of striking her on the side of the head and squeezing her hand until her middle finger fractured amid a dispute that began after she read a romantic text on his phone sent by another woman. Â
During cross examination, defense attorney Priya Chaudhry played grainy security footage from a Manhattan nightclub in efforts to cast doubt on the accuser’s claim she suffered excruciating pain and injuries following an alleged assault by the actor last spring.
While playing police body camera footage from her initial conversation with police, Jabbari broke down in tears and fled from the witness stand, reported The Daily Beast.Â
She could be heard sobbing while Majors sat at the defense table. A few moments later the 30-year-old returned to the New York City courtroom, apologized for her outburst and begged not to watch anymore.
Grace Jabbari appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on December 7 for the Jonathan Majors assault trial. She broke down on the stand during cross examination
Jonathan Majors and his new girlfriend Meagan Goode appear in court. Majors has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges
Majors (center) with his mother (left) and new girlfriend (right) on December 7. Defense attorneys have called the case against Majors a ‘witch hunt’
Jabbari was peppered with questions by Majors’ attorney about video clips that showed her using her injured hand for tasks like lifting a champagne glass, rifling through her bag, or brushing locks of hair behind her ear.
Chaudhry honed in on the fact that Jabbari went to a nightclub with three strangers she met on the street after the alleged attack.
In surveillance videos, one of the bystanders can be seen confronting Majors, who briefly returned to the scene and gestured for Jabbari to get back in the car, before leaving again.
Feeling distraught and not wanting to be alone, Jabbari said she accompanied the three strangers to a nightclub called Loosie’s, where she ordered a bottle of champagne and a round of shots with her new friends.
Chaudhry said, ‘You picked up the lime with your right hand? And you put the lime in your mouth? You sucked on the lime and then you put the rest of the lime rind back on the bar with your right hand, correct?’
Jabbari responded that she was running on adrenaline and shock following the assault and did not realize the extent of her injuries until she woke up the next morning and ‘felt like I got hit by a bus.’
‘I wasn´t focusing on pain. I was just trying to have a nice time,’ she said. ‘There were these lovely people there and I felt safe with them.’Â
Chaudhry has suggested that Jabbari would not have gone to the club if she was as hurt as she claimed, at points implying that the accuser may have injured herself later in the night while intoxicated.
Prior to the start of the trial, the defense attorney circulated video footage of Jabbari at the nightclub to the press, claiming it provided ‘irrefutable’ evidence that the case against Majors was a ‘witch hunt.’
Prosecutors have accused Majors of directing a ‘cruel and manipulative’ pattern of abuse against Jabbari, culminating with the assault in the backseat of the car.
Grace Jabbari left court in New York City on December 5 after recounting in public the ‘excruciating assault’ she alleges she suffered at the hands of Marvel star Jonathan Majors
Jonathan Majors, left, and his girlfriend Meagan Good held hands as they entered court on December 4
On Wednesday Jabbari testified about the ‘substantial’ pain she suffered after the actor allegedly assaulted her in the backseat of a cab this spring, as photos of the woman’s injuries were shared with a Manhattan jury for the first time.Â
Jabbari said that Majors became ‘full of rage and aggression’ while training for the part last summer, at times throwing objects at the wall during their frequent arguments.
She said she was conditioned to accept fault in order to ease his ‘violent temper’ during their relationship.
Regarding her injuries, she revealed – ‘when I was trying to sleep, I was very aware that I couldn’t lie on the right side of my head,’ she said. ‘It was an everything hurts situation.’Â
The actor was arrested last March following a dispute with his girlfriend in the backseat of a chauffeured car that began when Jabbari read a ‘romantic’ text message sent to Majors´ by another woman.
After Jabbari snatched his phone, Majors allegedly grabbed her finger, twisted her arm behind her back, and struck her hard on the back of the head in an effort to wrestle away the device.
Majors is accused of grabbing Jabbari (pictured right) and twisting her arm on the way home from a night out after she spotted a flirty text from another woman. He denies the allegations
Once the driver pulled over and the couple exited the vehicle, Majors picked her up and threw her back in the car, Jabbari testified, slamming her head on the doorframe of the SUV.
Majors has pleaded not guilty to the charges of assault and harassment. His attorney has claimed that Jabbari was the instigator, telling a jury on Wednesday that he emerged from the car scratched and bloodied.
The arrest has upended Majors´ fast-rising career, throwing his future as a lynchpin of the Marvel multiverse into doubt.
Majors was previously set to reprise his role as the supervillain Kang the Conqueror in two upcoming Avengers films.
The release of ‘Magazine Dreams,’ in which Majors earned critical accolades for his role as an aspiring body-builder, was also postponed from its scheduled opening this week.
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