NEW YORK — Grace Jabbari, the accuser in the misdemeanor assault case against actor Jonathan Majors, took the stand as the first witness on the second day of the trial Tuesday.
Jabbari, 30, wearing plaid pants and a plaid jacket, answered questions from Assistant District Attorney Kelli Galaway, appearing to take a deep breath and exhale as she began her direct examination.
"I am Grace Jabbari, nice to meet you," she said as she introduced herself to the jury. "I'm a professional dancer."
Jabbari said Majors first became angry with her in December 2021 and detailed several instances of him being mean or aggressive.
Among the incidents was one Jabbari recalled from July 2022 when he started throwing things at her in a home they were sharing in West Hollywood.
"The first thing that he threw was the candle," Jabbari said, as she showed the jury a photo of the room. "The dent in the wall is one of candles."
She used a pen to mark the spot where she was standing.
"I took the photo because the shift in his temper was something that I was aware of," Jabbari said. "I just wanted to remember. I know I kept forgiving him but I wanted to have a bit of a memory of it."
Jabbari often testified through nervous laughter, occasionally finishing her responses with a giggle.
"Is this a test?" she asked after Galaway asked her the ages of her three siblings.
Majors, 34, sat at the defense table in a gray suit after entering the courtroom with current girlfriend Meagan Good, who has attended each day of the proceedings. He carried a cup and a Bible.
Majors did not appear to look at Jabbari as she described her dance training and career.
Members of Jabbari's family sat in the front row, on the opposite side of the aisle from Majors' relatives and friends.
Majors, who has played the role of Kang in several Marvel films and TV shows, is accused of assaulting Jabbari in the backseat of a for-hire SUV on March 25 after she allegedly grabbed his phone when a message from another woman popped up that said "wish I was kissing you."
Jabbari was movement director on the set of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" in Pinewood, United Kingdom, when she met Majors, whom she acknowledged seeing in the courtroom.
"In one of the breaks he came over to me, near-ish the monitor, and asked me what I was doing, why I was here and I said, 'Oh I'm a dancer, I'm working on movement,'" Jabbari testified.
She said his hair stylist slipped her his number and the two went on a date. The relationship progressed "fast," she said.
"We spent every day together, maybe minus a few, within the next few months," Jabbari said. "He told me he loved me very early on."
Jabbari said Majors would quote her poetry.
"I felt very loved and cared for," she said.
Jabbari said the first time Majors became angry with her was in December 2021 when she was going to meet his dogs.
She said Majors gave her specific instructions for how to behave around the dogs. At that point, Jabbari mentioned how an ex-boyfriend had a dog and she said he became angry and raised his voice.
"How dare I mention him," Jabbari quoted Majors telling her. "It's embarrassing to him that I dated him. His dog is pathetic. This kind of stuff."
"It was the first time I felt scared of him," she told the jury.
Jabbari also described a time in June 2022 when she went to a festival where cellphone reception was not very good and Majors was "not very nice" about it.
"Just that I shouldn't be there and how dare I go," she said. "You're just out there drinking with your friends and I had a really hard week."
He had been training as a bodybuilder for a movie, Jabbari said, and "he was quite stressed."
By September 2022, Jabbari was living with Majors in London while he was shooting a movie. She recounted a Sunday when she had been at a pub with friends and returned to the house with them.
“He was getting a bit snappy. Just quick with his responses,” she said. Jabbari said she ushered everyone out of the house. The following day she said they met at a park when he accused her of being an alcoholic, tore headphones off her head and started shouting at her.
“Better not be in the house when I get home,” Jabbari quoted Majors saying that day.
Jabbari broke down in tears on the stand after recounting the story and asked the judge for a break.
Majors, who faces misdemeanor assault and harassment charges, faces up to a year in jail if convicted.
Disney is the parent company of Marvel and ABC News.