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Cuba Gooding Jr. Accused Of Groping, Harassment By Seven More Women, Prosecutors Say
There are now 22 women who have made sexual misconduct claims against the actor.
Seven more women have come forward with sexual misconduct claims regarding Cuba Gooding Jr., bringing the total number of the actor’s accusers to 22, according to new court documents.
Prosecutors made their claims in a motion filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Nov. 18 and released on Monday, the New York Daily News reports. The accusations against the 51-year-old actor span a number of years and the allegedly took place in various settings, from restaurants to industry events.
One woman claimed that she encountered Gooding at a film event in Los Angeles, California in 2005; she said that he walked behind her, then put his hand underneath her blouse to grab her breast, according to the Daily News. She said, “Excuse me,” and retreated to the bathroom, but Gooding tried to come inside with her, forcing her to push him away, the court documents claim.
The filing states another woman claimed that years later, at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Gooding harassed her because she chose not to drink, allegedly saying to her, “Aren’t you a picky bitch?” When she later began to leave, Gooding, whom she described as “agitated,” offered to escort her to her vehicle, but instead kissed her without her consent in an abandoned hallway; he then allegedly forced his hand into her crotch area so aggressively that “it caused the crotch of her tights to rip,” and she was not able to get away until she bit the actor’s cheek, prosecutors say.
Yet another woman claimed that she encountered Gooding at a restaurant in Georgia in 2011; she said that even though she made it clear that she wasn’t interested in him, he forcefully shoved his hands down the back of her pants, according to the DA’s office. The filing alleges that when the woman told him to stop, he then threatened her career, remarking, “I know you want to be an actress. I can ruin you.”
The filing also accuses Gooding of “forcefully” grabbing the vagina of a woman he’d met at a restaurant in Malibu, California in August 2016, according to the outlet. Gooding is alleged to have said to the woman, “You are peeing on me tonight.”
Gooding is alleged to have encountered the same woman at the same bar in December 2018, where he said to her, “You’re going to sit on my face, pee in my mouth and pee all over me,” Page Six reports.
Gooding is facing charges related to incidents involving three accusers, according to the outlet. Prosecutors requested in the recent filing that a judge allow the claims of the 19 other women to be brought up during the actor’s trial.
“Similar to the first dozen incidents, these incidents demonstrate that [Gooding] routinely approaches women at bars or nightclubs with whom he has had limited or no prior interaction, and touches them inappropriately,” prosecutors wrote, according to Vulture. “His prior acts demonstrate that his contacts with their intimate parts are intentional, not accidental, and that he is not mistaken about their lack of consent.”
Gooding, who faces three misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and three misdemeanor counts of forcible touching, has maintained his innocence.
His lawyer, Mark Heller, on Monday issued a statement denying the claims on Gooding’s behalf, calling them “ancient and outdated,” Page Six reports.
“Unfortunately, people come out of the woodwork, making false allegations against Cuba, as often times happens when a celebrity is accused by the District Attorney’s Office in a Public Forum,” Heller said.
“The spurious, uncharged allegations offered by the District Attorney’s Office are so ancient and outdated and lacking in details and impairs the Defendant from defending against them; thus, it demonstrates that the District Attorney’s Office’s motive in introducing these inflammatory, uncharged allegations is not for any probative value, but to merely gain an advantage against the Defendant and prejudice the Jury against the Defendant,” the statement continued.
Back in October, the claims of a dozen more women were introduced, with prosecutors arguing that the allegations show a troubling pattern of behavior for Gooding, Page Six reports. He is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 22.
