DISNEY HAS A MAJOR PROBLEM
Assault bust ‘a trial’ ahead of premiere
Disney is facing a looming crisis over its multimillion-dollar star Jonathan Majors after he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend.
The movie giant has the worldwide premiere of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” coming up Thursday when stars, including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and Karen Gillan, tread the red carpet at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
There, the stars will be left in the awkward position of facing questions about their Marvel Universe colleague’s Manhattan arrest for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend last month.
So far, Disney and Marvel have been silent.
But insiders tell The Post that Disney bosses fear that if they dump Majors, he will sue — and instead they are waiting to see if his case will go to trial.
Majors, 33, a Yale drama school grad who played Kang in “Ant Man and The Wasp” and starred in “Creed III,” is now one of Disney’s biggest investments.
Variety this week reported he has signed a $20 million payday including back-end compensation for “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” He is also signed up to star in “Avengers: Secret Wars.” And he has a separate deal to appear as Kang in “Loki” on Disney+, the streaming service.
Majors has already been getting Oscar buzz for his most recent film, “Magazine Dream,” in which he plays a tormented bodybuilder and which is slated to release in December. An Oscar win for Disney would be seen as a vindication of boomerang CEO Bob Iger’s focus on creativity — but now the studio has to consider whether it will be able to release the film.
‘Playing things out’
One highly placed Hollywood source said the studios need to be careful should Majors in fact threaten legal action, adding: “It’s very possible they are waiting for things to play out before they make that decision. There is definitely a legal consideration, they need to gather facts should there be a dispute over his removal from any projects.”
But his arrest for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, British dancer Grace Jabbari, is threatening to upend his career.
Variety also reported multiple alleged abuse victims are speaking with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The DA declined to comment to The Post.
Majors was arrested in New York City March 25 over the alleged domestic dispute with Jabbari, in a car as they returned to Manhattan from Brooklyn.
She was taken to the hospital with “minor injuries to her head and neck,” according to authorities, and later released.
Majors is expected to appear before a judge May 8 as he faces multiple counts of harassment and assault filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He denies the accusations.
The Hollywood source said the studios’ silence could also possibly start “a pushback against instantaneous cancel-culture approach,” adding, “Many people in Hollywood are so fearful of the ‘guilt by association’ that they would rather cut someone and damage their reputation, instead of taking any chance of potentially hurting their own.”