Jonathan Majors legal troubles remain a topic of public conversation weeks after a verdict was reached in his assault trial involving ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. He was found guilty on one count of reckless assault in the third degree as well as on a single count of harassment. For those offenses, he currently faces up to a year in prison. Majors broke his silence, after the decision came down, during an interview this week. It was during the discussion that he likened his girlfriend, Meagan Good, to late civil rights activist Coretta Scott King. This ultimately led to backlash from many across the Internet, including King’s own daughter. Now, Majors has provided clarity for his sentiments.
The embattled 34-year-old star sat down with ABC News to discuss the verdict and provide insight into how he’s been processing his situation. During the conversation, 42-year-old Meagan Good – who Jonathan Majors has been dating for months now – came up. The actor described Good as “an angel” and said that she’s held him down “like a Coretta.” He finished the thought by saying that he’s blessed to have her. The comment went viral soon after, with some users joking about it or expressing legitimate dissatisfaction.
TMZ managed to catch up with the Creed III star to get an explanation of his rationale. When sharing his thoughts, he explained that he meant no disrespect towards Coretta Scott King or her family. He specifically said:
My intention was to convey my utmost respect for Coretta Scott King, her achievements, and both her personal legacy and the one she shares with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King. … [She’s] a great woman, a very important figure in American and world history, and someone both Meagan and I are inspired by and deeply admire.
Bernice King, a lawyer and the youngest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. King, has made efforts to preserve her parents’ legacy. On that front, when she caught wind of the comments above, she took to X to issue a response. She wrote that her “mother wasn’t a prop” and that she was a “peace advocate” before meeting her husband. Bernice finished her statement by asking that the public be aware that “my mama was a force” and sharing a link to a story she wrote about her several years ago.
The high-profile interview isn’t the only time at which Jonathan Majors has mentioned the matriarch of the King family. Amid the assault trial, audio recordings of conversations between the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania alum and Grace Jabbari were released. In one instance, Majors asserted that Jabbari needed to be more like Coretta Scott King or Michelle Obama.
While much of the focus remains on the actor’s legal woes, there’s also been a lot of attention centered around his relationship with fellow superhero movie veteran Meagan Good. They were first linked around May 2023 and steadily went public in the months that followed. Good celebrated her 42nd birthday with her boyfriend in August of that same year and, around that same time, she revealed a tattoo that hinted at her relationship. Her boyfriend, for his part, hinted that things are getting serious while giving a speech at Congressional Black Caucus’ Black and White Ball last fall.
Sources claim that the court case brought Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good closer together and, based on his interview, they still seem to be standing firmly alongside each other. One gets the impression that Majors might continue to lean on his partner ahead of his sentencing on February 6. As for whether or not he makes any more references to Coretta Scott King, that remains to be seen.
