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Jonathan Majors, who maintains his innocence after beingcharged with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, needs to release video evidence from Saturday’s incident “as soon as it’s possible,” crisis PR expert Gary Rosen tells PEOPLE.
“The next few days are critical to this story,” he continues. “Anytime there’s a crisis involved, and especially with a celebrity, timing is key. But if in fact, what Majors' team is saying turns out tonotbe true, then that’s a whole different story.”
Majors wasarrested in New York Cityon Saturday, per police. Priya Chaudhry, Majors' criminal defense lawyer, 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 stated. “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.”
On Saturday, the NYPD revealed in a statement to PEOPLE that “at approximately 1114 hours, police responded to a 911 call inside of an apartment located in the vicinity of West 22nd Street and 8th Avenue, within the confines of the 10 Precinct.”
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Police continued that a “preliminary investigation” determined that a 33-year-old male was “involved in a domestic dispute” with a female, 30.
“The victim informed police she was assaulted. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident,” NYPD shared. “The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”
While police identified Majors — who was listed as being charged with strangulation, assault and harassment — the victim was not identified. A rep for Majors said on Saturday, “He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.”
In the aftermath of Majors' arrest, the U.S. Army announced it was pausing recruitment ads featuring the Emmy-nominated actor. Disney, the studio behind Majors' recent movieAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaand his upcoming dramaMagazine Dreams, has not commented.
“Jonathan Majors did a cover story forVanity Fair,” Rosen said of the publication’s Hollywood Issue. “In that interview, he said something very telling, which is, ‘Don’t lie. Tell the truth.’ Let’s hope he is.”
Eric Andersson
source: people.com
