robert downey jr, iowa debris and friday apologies tching. goodnight. >> this is nightline nine tonight jonathan majors, that exclusive headline making interview. what? you haven't heard yet. >> my hands have never struck a woman, ever. >> the former hollywood heavyweight and ant-man star

opening up about his recent conviction of misdemeanor assault against his ex-girlfriend. >> i was, uh, i was absolutely shocked what he says did and didn't happen. >> you feel that you did anything wrong. >> plus, i'm sorry, there must be a mistake. this job is for a housekeeper. >> that's me, mr. goodman. >> tony danza, you really don't want to do push ups? really? do you want to do pushups? >> you want some of this showing us who's still the boss in an epic? muscles match off on our own set. the beloved actor, known for classics like taxi. >> if a guy doesn't do what he can't do, what are you gonna do now? >> taking on a darker role? >> it's really a lot of fun to playing a bad guy. this guy's particular fun because he enjoys his evilness and our very own nightline connection with tony's newest project. >> now i have an inside source on the show, and i can't get enough of you can't get enough of jennifer lopez. your big day has arrived. nightline will be right back. ooh

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tonight, an abc news exclusive. jonathan majors, slated to become marvel's next big star, opening up about the misdemeanor assault conviction that cost him his franchise and possibly his career. breaking his silence in an

interview with abc's linsey davis. >> why did you decide you wanted to talk now? >> i felt like it was time. something about sitting here right now and looking at you and understanding the gravity of the situation. the situation that i in many ways put myself in. >> reporter: he was one of the most promising actors of his generation. >> today, a verdict in the case of jonathan majors. >> reporter: now jonathan majors has been convicted of a misdemeanor assault and harassing his ex-girlfriend in a stunning trial that brought his soaring career to a screeching halt. there were four charges. the jury convicted you of two of them. your reaction to that verdict? >> shock. i was -- i was absolutely shocked. i know i did not, you know, place my hands and strike that

woman. you know, it never happened. >> reporter: last march, he was celebrating back-to-back box office hits. "creed 3." and "ant-man and the wasp: quantumania." >> i am kang! >> reporter: by his side, girlfriend grace jabahri, meeting on the set of "ant-man" in 2021. >> i loved grace. our relationship -- it was not healthy, you know. and that began to reveal itself over time. >> reporter: just weeks after the "creed 3" premiere, in the early morning hours of march 25th, majors and jabahri got into an altercation in new york city that has haunted his public image. both say the fight began with a flirtatious text message that appeared on majors' phone from another woman while the couple was riding home from dinner in this chauffeured escalade. jabahri told the jury she saw a message pop up on his phone, "oh how i wish i was kissing you."

let's go back to march 25th for a moment. she sees a connection from another woman. things seem to spiral from there. what happened next? >> yeah, the text from another woman -- the issue in the car would not have happened had i been brave and ended the relationship. i got to it. i show her, all right? it's in my hand. she grabs it. we scuffle for the phone. >> reporter: jabahri testified she grabbed the phone, and then "i felt a heavy thud on top of me, what i knew to be the weight of him on top of me, him trying to pry the phone out of my fingers." she alleged majors struck her in the case with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear, that majors grabbed her hand, causing swelling, bruising, and substantial pain to her finger, and that he put his hand on her neck, causing bruising. but majors claims jabahri attacked him in a jealous rage,

ripping his coat, scratching his face and his arm. photos he took and says are of his injuries were shared with "impact" yet were deemed inadmissible in court. >> i pulled the phone back. i received my injuries. i'm calm. i'm busted. she's not calm. there was alcohol involved. >> reporter: both of you? >> i had some drinks as well, yeah. >> reporter: she says inside the car, you hit her in the face, twisted her arm behind her back, fracture her middle finger. >> yeah. that did not happen. >> reporter: she ends up with a one-inch cut behind her ear -- >> laceration, yes, ma'am. >> reporter: a fractured finger. >> yeah. >> reporter: how did those injuries come about? >> i wish to god i knew. that would give clarity. that would give me some type of peace about it. >> reporter: you're confident you did not cause it? >> i have no question. >> reporter: jabahri's lawyer says, "it is not surprising mr.

majors takes no accountability for his actions. ms. jabahri will continue to speak the truth and seek in appropriate forums." what happens next becomes heated in court. >> i open the door, step out. she comes. then one of the biggest mistakes of my life. i pick her up. i put her back in the car. try and get rid of her, try and get away from her. as i -- as the video shows, you know -- second-biggest mistake of my life, i try to keep her in the car. we get out, we walk across the street. i escort her across the street. the moment we get across the street, she grabs me, she goes for the phone. i get free of her and i run. >> reporter: what made you run? >> fear. >> reporter: of what she might do? >> not of what she -- smacked up for one, it was animal impulse, save yourself, get away from this. that's what i went to do. >> reporter: after the incident,

majors spent the night at a hotel. security footage shows jabahri at a nightclub with three strangers before she returns to the apartment she shared with majors. after majors came home that morning, he found jabahri unconscious and called 911. >> what happened exactly, do you know? >> no, i don't know. she's unconscious. she's naked from the bottom down. she has a sweatshirt on. she's my ex-partner. we broke up. >> reporter: body camera footage from the officers who arrived at their apartment shows majors covering jabahri with a blanket, then bringing police to their bedroom suite closet where she was lying on the floor. officers notice marks on her body and pictures presented at trial show jabahri's fractured finger and a laceration behind her ear. majors was arrested and charged with assault and harassment and was released on his own recognizance. part of majors' and his team's

defense with comes to both his innocence in this case and prior exchanges is alleged racial bias. majors filed his own incident report with nypd in june formally, repeatedly accusing jabahri of attacking him. manhattan district attorney, alvin bragg, declined to prosecute, telling "impact," it lacked prosecutorial merit and it was ruled ineligible in court. >> interesting is that the nypd investigated. they thought it was enough. and they wrote up a report to say, this person should be arrested. grace jabahri even turned herself in. nypd thought it was a crime but alvin bragg didn't? i think that's where it gets a little contentious for the defense. >> reporter: there are those who would say, look, the d.a., alvin bragg, is a black man, how can you say that this is race involved? >>al vain bragg is a black man, i'm a black man. he's a politician. you know.

we are not limited to our race. the system, you know -- the country. there are elements of it that are just -- bad. >> reporter: the district attorney's office declined to comment on majors' interview, saying, "we do our speaking in court where a manhattan jury convicted mr. majors." and in a previous statement to abc news, bragg said his office is committed to centering survivors in all of our work. the march 2023 incident and subsequent trial thrust majors' dating history into the forefront. there was a "rolling stone" article that said, going back to college, you had abusive relationships, emotional and physical? >> the emotion is always a -- an interesting thing. because it's a bit subjective. one person's experience of something may not necessarily be some other person's experience of something. that said, i was not the best boyfriend all the time.

>> reporter: never hit a woman? >> never hit a woman. have never put my -- my hands have never struck a woman. ever. >> reporter: but on december 18th, the jury found majors guilty of assaulting and harassing jabahri inside the car, clearing majors of a charge that said he intentionally assaulted jabahri, downgrading it to reckless assault, a misdemeanor. >> not guilty of the assault in the third degree intentionally suggests that the jury says, he didn't mean to hurt her. but they didn't say he was guilty of reckless assault. meaning he basically conducted himself in a way he should have known better and unintentionally injured someone else. >> reporter: were you reckless? >> i was reckless with her heart. >> not with her body? >> not with her body. >> reporter: did you feel you did anything wrong? >> i wouldn't have picked her up, i wouldn't have put her back in the car, i wouldn't have tried to keep her, i would have

gotten out of that car and ran immediately. >> reporter: shortly after he broke up with jabahri, majors began appearing with actress megan goode. she's been devoted to majors, coming every day to court. he held a bible in one hand, her hand in the other. >> and she's held me down like a gorilla, you know? i'm so blessed to have her. the relationship has -- it's still fresh. but you know. i think i -- i found her. >> reporter: the one? >> i hope she just will stick with me. >> juju: our thanks to linsey. majors will be sentenced on february sixths. to hear more of majors' interview and his controversial invocation of coretta scott king, check out "impact by nightline: jonathan majors speaks" streaming now on hulu. when we come back, tony

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♪ >> juju: welcome back. tony danza is one of the most beloved actors in hollywood, from his iconic television roles to his meaningful movie even on the broadway stage. tony danza is back on tv and showing no signs of slowing down. he sat down with and then threw down with my coanchor, byron pitts. >> byron: welcome to "nightline," the legendary tony

danza. >> thank you very much, that's very nice of you to say. >> byron: you've played loveable action complicated men. i want to talk about this new tv show, "raising cain." you play a tough guy, a gangster. >> yeah, a bad guy. it's a lot of fun playing a bad guy. this guy's particularly fun because he enjoys his evilness. he really does. his name is stefano marketty. he's the boss of the south jamaica area. >> sticks and stones knowledge giorgio. >> he owns an exotic fish store. and that's where people come to see me. >> byron: what i love about this character, in the show "raising cain" where everyone's so aggressive, guns are out, you're very chill. you're very, i'll hurt you if you have to. >> he makes other people do his dirty work. that's what's really interesting about him. >> byron: let's take a look at a clip from your character in "raising cain." >> don't tell me my [ muted ] goldfish suck up another

7-eleven. won't stay out of trouble. >> what do you know? >> only that it was a terrible tragedy and an unspeakable loss for those who knew and loved him. >> byron: unspeakable loss that you had something to do with, as i recall. why choose to play this kind of character at this stage of your career? >> be honest with you, byron, at first i was a little bit sensitive to the trope and all that stuff. well, my agent said, "hey, this is a great show, take a look at this thing." it's just a really fun place, a nice place to work. >> byron: i have an inside source on the show who tells me it as joy to be in your presence, that all the actors kind of lean in when you're doing your thing. christiani pitts is my daughter. she's one of the actors in the show. >> yeah. >> byron: we love the program in our house. >> yeah, listen. it's great to be part of it. you know, i'm -- i've been around awhile. when you're around awhile and you land in something like this, you know, you know how good it is. and so i'm really, really -- you know, i'm trying to savor it.

>> byron: one of the things i love about your personal story, it's reflective of what's wonderful about the american story. some people know from it berth, i'm going to do this. other people kind of fall into it. look at your story. you were a boxer. >> yeah. >> byron: no thoughts of working in hollywood. >> no, no. i was going to be champion of the world, i thought. another dream. but i really did just get lucky. a guy named stewart chezlow walked into the gym, was doing a pilot about a young fighter who works out in a gym that's owned by an older fighter. he asked me if i'd ever thought about being on tv. a few months later, somehow, i end up being reading for a showd "taxi" and somehow i get it. it really is one of these incredible -- it's a mind-boggling story. i was fighting for a few hundred dollars before the best show on tv. >> byron: you and my colleague,

juju chang, won this fancy award in new york city. you gave one of the best speeches of the night. >> i feel so important. i was telling somebody how lucky i am. >> byron: you're 72 years, soon to be 73. 50 push-ups every morning? >> yeah, at least 50. i do 50 because i read somewhere, if you can do 50 push-ups, you have half as much chance of sudden death. >> byron: you ready? we're going to do some? >> you don't want to do push-ups, really? >> byron: you want some of this? >> i'll get on the floor, you're talking to me, yeah. >> byron: all right. >> okay, look -- >> byron: i'll see you on the floor. >> i'm not into those perfect push-ups and i got to do them on my wrists because i have arthritis. >> byron: how many? >> let's keep going, see where we end up. ♪ ♪ >> byron: all right, i had enough. i get it. i get it. you're the man. anyone who's seen your work,

from your amazing work on "taxi" to "who's the boss" is fully aware of how talented you are. what the average person may not know, that you're also a remarkably generous man. you have this program in new york that you love where you support high school kids. >> yeah, it's called the stars of tomorrow project. it's a teen acting program. it's youth development through performance. because when you act, if you think about it, you have to be part of something bigger than yourself. you have to be present. you have to speak clearly. look people in the eye. interact. you know, all the stuff you have to do in life. so we try to incorporate acting. but we're teaching them about life. that's what the program's about. giving them something else to be interested in. and overcoming that lack of knowing things. i really -- you know, it's the greatest thing i do. >> juju: our thanks to byron and

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♪ >> juju: finally tonight, after almost a decade, jennifer lopez is back with a new album. >> let me tell you, it has -- it has been quite the journey. >> juju: j. lo today dropping the first single of her long-awaited new album, "this is me now." the singer says her muse was husband, ben affleck, just as he was in 2002 for "this is me then." >> we've reunited, got back together. i felt inspired to write music for the first time in a long time in a way i hadn't for 20 years. >> juju: though there's no ben cameo in "can't get enough," make no mistake, it's all about him. >> true love actually exists. it really does. and some things are forever. >> juju: the album