Footage shows jonathan majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne unexpectedly falling through an unsecured sheet of tempered glass, an incident that accelerated a walkout by below-the-line crew and prompted a formal IATSE strike over safety and labor conditions.
What happened when Jonathan Majors and a co-star fell through a window?
Verified facts: Video captures jonathan majors and JC Kilcoyne tumbling through a window that had been replaced with a sheet of tempered glass. The glass was not secured and was intended to be shattered later in a separate stunt. Both actors and the sheet of glass fell approximately six feet. JC Kilcoyne sustained cuts to his hands that required stitches. Kilcoyne’s representatives stated he “is doing well and was taken care of immediately by production” and that he “did not feel unsafe on set and continues to have a positive experience working on the project. ” Representatives for the production have characterized negotiations with organizing crew in inflammatory terms.
Analysis: The filmed fall is not presented as an isolated misstep but as a focal event that crystallized broader crew concerns about on-set communication and physical risk. An unsecured pane of tempered glass placed to serve a later stunt — and left in place during a separate performance — indicates gaps in coordination between stunt planning and scene execution.
Why did crew members walk off, and what safety failures are documented?
Verified facts: IATSE has called a strike on the production after crew members raised multiple issues beyond the window incident. Reported concerns include props falling onto crew, a rigged tree branch striking the set medic, use of airsoft guns for prop firearms without clear documented safety meetings, no routine pre-stunt coordination between writer-director Kyle Rankin and department heads, absence of a unit production manager and even an official crew list, and a location initially used despite contractor warnings about black mold. More than 60 percent of crew members on the film have signed union cards in an effort to organize under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Analysis: These items, taken together, outline systemic production failures: inadequate hazard assessment of locations, poor chain-of-command on complex stunts and weapons handling, and minimal administrative oversight. The lack of a crew list and unit production manager undermines basic accountability channels that crews rely on to flag and mitigate risks. The pattern explains why crew willingness to continue work deteriorated quickly after a visible and avoidable accident.
Who benefits, who is implicated, and what accountability is required?
Verified facts: Producers have declined to recognize collective bargaining demands and have rejected union engagement with combative language. Bonfire Legend’s founder has publicly characterized the broader labor movement in dismissive terms. The production moved a location after crew pushed back on mold concerns. The armorer and prop master were not available to clarify set safety protocols around firearms use. Majors’ representatives have not returned requests for comment regarding these matters.
Analysis: The refusal to enter negotiated agreements while simultaneously facing documented safety lapses places responsibility on production leadership to address both labor and safety deficiencies. Union organizing reflects a threshold where a majority of crew believe formal safeguards and benefits are necessary for safe, sustainable work. Producer resistance to bargaining risks prolonging operational disruption and compounding reputational and legal exposure.
Accountability conclusion: Verified facts show a filmed safety failure and a catalogue of production shortcomings that prompted an IATSE strike. El-Balad. com’s reporting separates what is established — the recorded fall, medical treatment for a co-star, the union action, and the documented lapses in standard production oversight — from analysis of systemic breakdowns. The production must make transparent its safety protocols, confirm who signs off on stunt and weapons plans, restore standard production management roles, and engage with IATSE to resolve outstanding health, pension, and safety concerns. Until those steps are publicly confirmed, crews remain justified in withholding labor. The public should expect clear answers and corrective action on this production and similar shoots where the same failures could recur, and jonathan majors’ involvement underscores the stakes for performers and crew alike.
