The U.S. Army has paused its advertising campaign featuring Jonathan Majors in response to the actor’s arrest Saturday for an alleged assault.
The two “Be All You Can Be” commercials featuring Majors as an on-screen narrator were pulled Sunday. The U.S. Army plans to continue running other ads in the campaign, maintaining a digital presence as well as a prominent position in broadcasts of the NCAA March Madness tournament. Advertisements featuring Majors were still running during the NCAA broadcasts on Saturday evening.
“The U.S. Army is aware of the arrest of Jonathan Majors and we are deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest,” Army Enterprise Marketing Office public affairs chief Laura DeFrancisco confirmed in a statement. “We recently released two ads in which Mr. Majors appears. While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete.”
The multi-million dollar “Be All You Can Be” campaign was widely seen as a renewed effort for the U.S. Army to rebound after its worst recruiting year in recent history. In 2022, the organization enlisted roughly 45,000 individuals, falling 25% short of its goals.
Centering the ad campaign on a celebrity like Majors reflected an effort to renew enthusiasm for the military among young Americans. Majors, who has enjoyed the reputation of a rising star in Hollywood, is the star of recent blockbuster releases “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III” and the buzzy Sundance drama “Magazine Dreams.”
Majors was arrested on Saturday in New York on domestic violence allegations after a dispute with a 30-year old woman, who was taken to the hospital with “minor injuries to her head and neck,” according to authorities.
Majors’ legal representation has argued that the actor is “completely innocent.”
“We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently,” criminal defense lawyer Priya Chaudhry said Sunday morning.
