‘It took me Down to the Studs’ Jonathan Majors Repents

What does true accountability look like for a Black man after Hollywood shuts the door? Jonathan Major is attempting to answer that question by leaning into the raw emotion of his past mistakes and public fallout. Admitting that his 2023 conviction and media storm “stripped me of everything,” the actor opened up in a sweeping Rolling Stone Africa cover feature alongside Meagan Good. Beyond their new mission to invest in native African filmmakers, the interview serves as Majors’ first real blueprint for redemption: taking ownership of his valley, standing in humility, and proving he is ready to earn his way back into the light.

But what stood out most, perhaps, was his reflection on the past tumultuous years he’s had and how it’s humbled him and brought him to a place of accountability.

Speaking indirectly to his rise and fall in the entertainment world, the “Lovecraft Country” star explained how he’d experienced career highs and “a version of the Hollywood mountaintop,” through past projects that brought rave reviews from viewers and led him to critical acclaim. But Majors also acknowledged that he’d gone through severe lows, or rather, “the valley,” that negatively impacted how he was perceived and received in Hollywood and that it “humbled” him.

“I have also known the valley—the kind of valley where your name becomes a headline before it becomes a sentence, and every stranger has a verdict before you have a chance to say good morning. I will not pretend that season did not humble me. It did. It took me down to the studs,” he said.

On the topic of accountability, “The Harder They Fall” star admitted that it was a “harder” word to grasp and speak to because it meant not “editing the story” and “looking for the camera angle that flatters you.” But he also shared that that accountability ultimately led him to sit down with what he did, what he didn’t do, and just let it all be true. After he did that, he found a way to forgive himself.

“And then—and this is the part nobody tells you—you forgive yourself enough to be useful again. Not enough to forget. Just enough to move,” Majors said. “Moving forward, for me, has looked like Meagan. Like my daughter — like building a bridge, plank by plank, to her and to the life she is becoming. That is the real work.”

He later explained how he’s “facing” all that’s transpired and the aftermath and that it’s gotten him to a place where he likes the man that’s on the other side of it all.

“[James] Baldwin said ‘nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ I faced it. I am facing it. And on the other side of the facing, I found something surprisingly quiet: a man I actually like. A man I want to take care of. A man worth walking across that bridge to meet my daughter as,” Majors added.

Given his newfound, internal shift and embracement of accountability in addition to the work he’s still putting in in the film world, it seems as if Majors is poised and ready for Hollywood’s re-embrace. And while he may have a long way to go to get back to where he once was (and while his next project isn’t helping his case in the slightest), only time will tell if he’s successful in his feat.

But if the past is prologue, then how fans reacted to his 2023 film, “Magazine Dreams,” may serve as a sign that his desire to have an impact in Hollywood may be closer in reach. As we previously told you, fans raved about his performance, specifically praising how deeply he dissolved himself into the role. (Before the controversy, early critics even said that Majors could’ve gotten an Oscar for the role).

Whether Hollywood fully embraces him again remains outside his control. What isn’t is the work Majors says he’s doing now. If this interview and the moves he’s making are any indication, he’s no longer focused on explaining the past as much as he’s focused on proving he’s ready for whatever comes next.