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Two more women have accused Jonathan Majors of physical and emotional abuse.
Two ex-girlfriends, Emma Duncan and Maura Hooper, accused the “Creed III” actor of abuse in a new report from The New York Times published Thursday, following the actor’s conviction for assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari in December.
The Times investigation also revealed a history of “volatility” on the set of HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” in which Majors played Atticus Freeman, including disputes with female coworkers that led to complaints to the network.
A representative for Duncan and Hooper, who is familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the accuracy of the New York Times report to USA TODAY on Friday.
Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, described her past relationships with Duncan and Hooper as a “love triangle” and “toxic,” but denied allegations of abuse and knowledge of her co-workers’ complaints on the set of “Lovecraft.” Country,” in a statement emailed to USA TODAY Friday.
USA TODAY has reached out to HBO for comment.
The four-month Times investigation includes accounts from 20 people who knew or worked with Majors, including some identified anonymously for fear of career repercussions, as well as statements presented to prosecutors in Majors’ assault trial.
Rolling Stone In June it released a similar report, detailing allegations of abuse toward former classmates, crew members and former romantic partners over the course of a decade.
In the Times report, Duncan accused Majors of throwing her, strangling her and hurting her. Hooper alleges that she suffered emotional abuse at the hands of Majors. They both dated Majors before his rise to fame and described him as a controlling and threatening figure in their lives, isolating them from their friends and their careers.
In one of several instances of violence early in their relationship, Duncan alleged, during a July 2016 trip to Chautauqua, New York, the former couple got into an argument in which Majors threatened to strangle and kill her.
She alleged that that same month, when she visited Majors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a violent altercation occurred in a hotel room as she began packing to leave. Duncan accused Majors of pushing her onto a couch, strangling her and telling her he was “going to kill her.” She said he then threw her across the room and told her, “I’ll make sure you can’t have children.”
Duncan accuses the actor of picking her up and slamming her body against a mailbox in his Harlem, New York, apartment in October 2016, causing bruises, she said. After the incident, like others, Majors threatened suicide, he claimed.
Hooper claimed that while she was dating Majors, he controlled where she could go, who she talked to, and how she behaved. She alleges that the actor did not allow her to speak to anyone about her relationship and she threatened to commit suicide at one point when she found out about an affair.
Hooper alleged that when she became pregnant a few months into their relationship, she scheduled an abortion. When Majors took her to the medical clinic, which she had a policy requiring escort home after the procedure, he did not come to pick her up, she alleged. When Hooper called him, she said she, he told her she was going to a rehearsal.
Hooper also claimed that a year after the couple separated, when Majors discovered she was dating someone he knew, he called her and, in an argument, told her that he hoped she would commit suicide and told her that he would “rip you off.” my heart”. the way our baby was taken from you.”
Majors denied the allegations of physical abuse in a statement shared by his attorney to USA TODAY. He also denied some of the allegations of emotional abuse and did not recall the exact details of others. He described the relationships as “mutually emotionally volatile,” adding that he “chooses to take responsibility for his role” in the “toxic” relationships.
“Looking back, he feels ashamed of some of his jealous behavior and has been addressing these lifelong personal depression issues with counseling,” Chaudhry wrote in an email shared with USA TODAY on Friday.
Additionally, three members of the female crew from the set of “Lovecraft Country” are said to have filed a complaint with HBO about Majors’ behavior on set, including that the actor was argumentative, treated them differently from their male colleagues and that he , in one case, made a derogatory, racially charged comment about her appearance and, in another case, told a crew member that she didn’t belong on the set.
Chaudhry also provided photographs to the Times and USA TODAY in an effort to prove that his relations with Duncan and one of the “Lovecraft Country” crew members after the alleged incidents were “amicable.”
If you are a victim of domestic violence, The National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org) allows you to speak confidentially with trained advocates online or by phone, which they recommend for those who believe their abuser is monitoring their online activity (800-799-7233). They can help survivors develop a plan to achieve safety for themselves and their children.
Contributing: Morgan Hines
