Jonathan Majors Accused of Assault and Defamation in Lawsuit by Ex-Girlfriend

Ms. Jabbari met Mr. Majors on the set of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” in London. She lived with him, first there and later in New York, but their relationship quickly deteriorated and he routinely screamed at her and threatened self-harm when she tried to leave or disclose the extent of his misconduct, the lawsuit said.

In September 2022, in London, according to the lawsuit, he threw her against the hood of her car, placed her “in a headlock and put his hand over her mouth to prevent someone from hearing her cries for help.” Back in their house, the suit said, he put his hands around her neck and threatened to kill her. He then hit her head against a marble floor, the lawsuit continued, “while strangling her until she felt she could no longer breathe.” The altercation left her with “brain fog” and “a constant ringing headache,” according to the documents.

Earlier that year, in Los Angeles, he threw her into a shower, the lawsuit stated, “causing her head to hit the wall.” She lived in “constant fear” of Mr. Majors, the suit said.

Since his arrest, Mr. Majors’s once high-flying career has collapsed: Marvel dropped him hours after his conviction, and all his coming movies were shelved. In an interview with ABC in January, he maintained that he had “never hit a woman.”

His comments, the lawsuit said, were intended to harm Ms. Jabbari’s reputation and career, and led people to “lash out, harass, intimidate, and bully” her, including by sending her death threats.

The suit also accused Mr. Majors of “malicious prosecution” over his effort to file a countercomplaint against Ms. Jabbari last summer. Ms. Jabbari turned herself into the police, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to pursue the case, saying it lacked merit. The episode was an “offense-is-the-best-defense tactic,” the lawsuit said, “deployed by Majors to harass and intimidate his victim.”