Discussing Saturday’s arrest of Jonathan Majors, “CNN This Morning” had Segun Oduolowu of the Boston Globe join Monday’s program to offer his perspective on the situation – and how “the court of public opinion” will shape it, for better or worse.
“This court of public opinion, they don’t play by any rules,” Oduolowu warned. “Stay off Twitter, stay of Instagram, because what you’re going to get is conjecture, and we in the news business, we deal with facts.”
In the hours since news of Majors’ arrest broke, the contributor said, one can go online and see as many negative stories about the actor’s character as they do positive ones. Oduolowu is concerned that those “knee-jerk” reactions are just contributing to the noise, when what everyone should be after is the truth.
“I am asking and hoping that we will be patient. Let all of the facts come in, because the court of public opinion is very different than the court of law,” Oduolowu said. “If you go online, you are already hearing all types of stories, you know, that describe him as an angel and stories that describe him as the devil. So we need to be patient, we need to let all of the facts come in as best they can.”
Still, he maintained, “a tragedy has happened,” and it’s still important to gather the facts and listen to the victim. The “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” star was arrested in New York City Saturday, accused of assaulting an unidentified woman who “sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”
Majors’ team has denied any wrongdoing, with his legal team releasing a statement saying he is “provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.”
“Unfortunately, this incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday,” the statement said. “The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested.”
Given the video evidence to be presented to the District Attorney, Majors’ legal team stated they expect the charges in question will be dropped soon. In the meantime, U.S. Army ads featuring Majors have been paused from airing.
“We should let all of that come in,” Oduolowu continued. “We were too quick with knee-jerk reactions when it was Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and Johnny Depp was pulled from movie franchises until the court trial and tapes came in. So if there is evidence that proves Jonathan Majors did not do this, then let it come out and let his name be cleaned.”
Watch the full “CNN This Morning” segment in the video above.