Last month, Jonathan Majors was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment of his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. The actor, who was dropped by his management and PR companies when he was first arrested, was then fired from Marvel.
As Majors awaits his February sentencing (which could include jail time), the embattled actor is now taking part in a time-honored Hollywood ritual: the mea culpa media tour. Majors will sit down with Good Morning America on Monday for an exclusive interview, his first since his conviction. The teaser for the interview is making the rounds online, in which a teary-eyed Majors declares “It’s been hard,” while wiping an invisible tear from his eyes.
This GMA interview is the first step of a carefully orchestrated reputation rehabilitation tour that smacks of insincerity and performative regret. The clip also evokes another superhero universe: Amazon’s bloody satire The Boys. The teaser feels like it was made by Vought International, the parent company that creates the Supes and carefully controls their public image. Folks online were quick to point out how Majors resembles The Deep (Chace Crawford) on his apology tour or Homelander (Antony Starr) defending his reprehensible actions.
The clip ends with the host asking Majors if he thinks he’ll ever work in Hollywood again. The answer is obvious. OF COURSE, Majors will work again. Because for all the think pieces written, for all the pundits’ whining, for all the performative hand-wringing, cancel culture simply does not exist. One needs only to look at the continued success of “canceled” stars like Louis C.K. and Johnny Depp, who continue to book jobs, win awards, and retain massive fan bases despite their bad behavior. Noted racist, misogynist, antisemite, and alleged abuser Mel Gibson is currently set to direct a Mark Wahlberg thriller for Lionsgate, in addition to starring in the John Wick spinoff series, The Continental.
We don’t know what the future holds for Majors, but one thing is clear. While he may never rejoin the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something tells us his career will be just fine.
(featured image: John Nacion/Getty Images)
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