Jonathan Majors' assault accuser says she wanted to 'protect him' and blamed herself after he was arrested

• Jonathan Majors' accuser says she felt guilty after his arrest and considered lying to save him.
• Grace Jabbari testified at his criminal trial that she wanted to protect Majors.

The ex-girlfriend accusing Jonathan Majors of assault said she grappled with regret after the movie star was arrested.

In her testimony at Majors' high-profile Manhattan criminal trial, Grace Jabbari, 30, said she felt like she had to protect the "Loki" and "Creed III" star.

"I felt it was my fault," Jabbari said in court on Wednesday. "I felt I should have lied and said nothing happened so he wouldn't be in trouble."

Majors, 34, stands accused of misdemeanor assault and harassment over allegations that he grabbed and shoved Jabbari in a car in New York City back in March. He pleaded not guilty and accused Jabbari of being violent with him.

Police arrested Jabbari on a misdemeanor assault allegation, but Manhattan prosecutors declined to prosecute her the next day.

On the night of the alleged assault, Jabbari said during her testimony Majors was in a foul mood because she had told his manager about his temper — and he was worried the story would get out and damage his career.

While riding in a car after seeing a show in New York City, Jabbari testified that she saw a message on Majors' phone saying "Wish I was kissing you."

Jabbari testified that she suspected he was cheating and grabbed for his phone. That's when she said Majors twisted her arm behind her back, smacked her in the back of the head and pried back the middle finger on her right hand to get his phone back.

Throughout her testimony on Tuesday, Jabbari broke down in tears, once needing a few minutes outside the courtroom to compose herself. It was the first time she'd seen Majors since she leveled the accusations against him.

After the fight, she said Wednesday, she met three strangers on the street and went out clubbing with them. She drank champagne, did shots of tequila, and danced nearly til dawn.

Jabbari testified she woke up vomiting and in a great deal of pain and then passed out on the heated bathroom floor of the triplex Chelsea apartment that she shared with Majors.

Again, she woke up, but this time she was surrounded by NYPD officers and emergency medical personnel who had been called by Majors, who said he believed that she was trying to harm herself, she testified.

She told the jury that she was at war with herself over what to tell the authorities because she felt her relationship had hit its lowest point.

"I was really scared, but I needed someone to get me out," she said Wednesday. "I always took him back. I was really scared, but I just needed to get out."

But she also said that she wanted to protect him.

"I was worried about what would happen because Jonathan had told me about what they could do to him as a Black man," Jabbari testified.

In the ensuing investigation, she said she told officers that her injuries were from an altercation with Majors and he was arrested.

Jabbari testified she was taken to the hospital where she was held to assess if she would harm herself. She told a social worker about the attack and Jabbari was told that Majors had been charged.

"They had told me that they had arrested him and I felt really upset," Jabbari said Wednesday.

Prosecutors had originally charged that he had tried to strangle her and she was insistent that those charges be dropped, she said Wednesday.

"I was trying to fix the thing as much as possible. I told them that it was my fault, that I grabbed the phone," she said.

Jabbari accused Majors of violent outbursts

Jabbari has spent the last two days testifying that Majors was prone to controlling behavior and losing his temper. She said the Emmy-nominated actor would be angry with her if she went out for drinks with a friend or spoke to his manager about his violent outbursts.

"He raised his voice and shouted at me. How dare I go out, calling me an alcoholic, saying that I'm an embarrassment," she testified. "Saying when he's busy, I should just be waiting at home and keep things nice for him. I should not go out with friends."

Jabbari also said during Tuesday's testimony Majors told her to support him as if he was Barack Obama or Martin Luther King Jr.

Majors would apologize after his outbursts and promise to get therapy, she alleged, but inevitably, he would erupt again.

"I felt like just always had to look after him," Jabbari told the jury on Tuesday. "It would happen after he was angry at me, but then he would need comfort and support. I felt like no one was looking after me."

The relationship began to wear on her, she said, and started to affect her health.

"I still saw my family and my friends but every time I saw them I felt like I was lying to them. I just felt isolated," Jabbari said.

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic abuse is a "pattern of behaviors used to gain or maintain power and control" that can include controlling who the victim sees and threatening self-harm.

The Hotline said victims may choose to stay in controlling relationships because they "believe that they're at fault for their partner's abusive behaviors" or "feel that they've done something wrong."

Jabbari's testimony continues Wednesday afternoon.