Jonathan Majors has recently been spotted out and about with his rumored girlfriend, Meagan Good, and social media users are reacting to his new relationship.

 

The rumours of them dating becoming such a topic of discussion was to be expected. It’s the last thing anyone could’ve anticipated given what’s transpired over the last few months with Jonathan, which Sarah wrote about here. Most people assumed that he, like most other disgraced celebrities, would lay low and work on rebuilding what’s left of his public image. But instead, he’s popped up with a new girlfriend, which could be part of said image maintenance, and the major topic of conversation is not necessarily that he’s dating a new woman, but who that woman is.

It goes both ways – because Meagan Good is a star within her own right. With an accomplished acting and modelling career that spans more than two decades and a current role on the hit show Harlem, it really is a wonder why she would choose Jonathan Majors to become the first man she dated after her divorce from DeVon Franklin in 2021. 

Since her divorce, she’s really upped the ante on social media, posting more risqué photos and videos, something she shied away from while married to DeVon, who was a pastor. For her 41st birthday, she posted this sultry video, letting people know that age ain’t nothing but a number. And that seems to ring true for her and Jonathan, who is almost ten years her junior. These details may seem miniscule, but the larger image being painted here is, if not strategic, a masterful coincidence. 

 

Apparently, their relationship began as a platonic friendship; Meagan supposedly offered Jonathan support, especially as it pertained to the allegations of abuse. TMZ initially reported this earlier this month, with a source calling their relationship “fairly new”, adding that they’ve “gotten close” over the past few weeks, which, by all accounts, was a pretty turbulent time for him.

There are so many things at play here. But at the forefront, it's race. I don’t talk about race as often as I do because I enjoy it. I talk about race as often as I do because it really is engrained in so many different aspects of our society and as a racialized person myself, I feel a responsibility to examine and highlight the nuances of what that looks like.

Jonathan is facing allegations of abuse by a woman who has been presumed to be white. When news of the allegations surfaced, I can’t tell you how many comments I saw that suggested this is what happens when Black men date white women – despite statistics showing that Black women are more likely to be the victims of domestic violence. This user called attention to how often that narrative is resorted to and thousands agreed. 

 

It’s a trying task to find statistics and evidence of just how many Black men align themselves more with Black women after abuse allegations by white women or when there is a threat to their public image. But trust and believe that Jonathan Majors is not the first Black man to lean on a Black woman during a time of need. None of this is to say that Meagan is only desirable to him now that he’s in a state of “desperation”, so to speak. But it is to shed light on just how much he is benefitting right now simply by having her next to him as this all unfolds.

The first reason he’s benefitting from her mere presence has to do with how Black women are perceived in society. In an episode of Iyanla: Fix My Life, she spoke to three Black men who refused to date Black women. One of the men pointed out that it had to do with his dislike for their “strong personalities”, their “inability to stay in a woman’s place” and added, “Why are Black women so angry?”

While this trope has had detrimental effects on the personal and professional lives of Black women across the globe, in a situation like this, it actually benefits Jonathan because he is positioning himself to be seen as having more of an “equal” partner in Meagan. He is not parading around with a woman who is perceived to be small and meek. 

 

The second reason he’s benefitting from having her around is her age. As soon as the photos were shared online, people hopped in the comments labelling her as a cougar. Jonathan is very much a big, burly Black man so to some, it seems like he’s shrinking himself as much as possible, and in any way possible, to counter the image of the person the allegations paint him to be. If he were walking around with a petite white girl on the heels of these allegations, he would seem even bigger and Blacker and instead he’s walking around with an older, Black woman, who has got a lot of confidence and has no qualms about putting that image forward. She’s the opposite of society’s idea of a domestic violence victim, despite the fact that there is no one ‘look’ and DV victims come in all shapes and sizes.

If you think I’m bullsh-tting about why all this matters, let’s think back to the infamous and controversial 2008 Vogue magazine cover in which Lebron James was mid-roar with Gisele Bundchen beside him. I was first introduced to this in a media studies course when we were asked whether we thought the photo was racist. At first glance, no, but the discussion that followed has always stuck with me.

My teacher pointed out the fact that they had darkened his skin, enlarged him in size and shrunk her down to make her look even smaller. This was a well thought out magazine cover for what is arguably the world’s largest fashion magazine, so it’s safe to say that nothing was done without intention. And the intention was to make a nod to the 1933 version of King Kong. 

“When you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front, Black man wanting white woman, it’s not innocent,” magazine analyst Samir Husni said to TODAY when it came out.

 

Whoever is working on Jonathan's PR team should know the implications of the juxtaposition of a Black man and a white woman when there aren't allegations of abuse involved. Given his current situation? The implications are tenfold. 

At its core, this issue is about Black women always being called in to clean up the mess – which is something we saw a lot with the #MeToo movement. Again, this is one of those things that’s well-known but difficult to contextualize with statistics and research. But this ESSENCE article highlights how we saw this unfold with the #MeToo movement.

“The world responds to the vulnerability of white women,” #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke told the outlet, before opening up about what she refers to as a learned behaviour of protecting Black men, which we’re seeing play out in real time with Meagan standing by Jonathan’s side.

We also saw Black women coming to the rescue in the White House. This Washington Post article does a good job of helping to paint the picture, especially if, just for a moment, we imagine Jonathan as America, and vice presidency as the role of being a Black man’s partner in the wake of public shame.

“America has decided to elevate a Black woman to the vice presidency just as the country has been humiliated and on its knees. Harris must now help save a deeply polarized America ailing from a deadly pandemic and a shattered economy.”

While Meagan may be doing him a favour, the same can’t be said for her. She’s losing a lot of respect from fans, old and new, over her decision to support Jonathan during this time. And with her life and career seemingly taking off in what some may consider a post-divorce glow up, or second act, it would be a shame for her to go down with what looks like maybe a sinking ship.