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Cuba Gooding Jr. Accused Of ‘Pattern’ Of Sexual Misconduct After 3 New Alleged Victims Reportedly Emerge
Gooding is already facing charges related to the accusations of two women, one of whom claimed that he groped her breast without permission earlier this year.
Three additional women have accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual misconduct, bringing the total number of women who have come forward to five.
Gooding, 51, is already facing charges related to the accusations of two women, but an unnamed source told Page Six that the actor has made a habit out of harassing women at restaurants and bars.
“It’s a pattern,” said the outlet’s anonymous source.
Gooding was accused in June of groping a 30-year-old woman during a night out at the Magic Hour Bar & Lounge in Manhattan. The woman, whose name has not been released, told police that the actor touched her breast without her permission; Gooding denied the accusations, but was ultimately charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse, to which he pleaded not guilty, according to the Associated Press.
Gooding was charged earlier this month in relation to a second alleged incident involving a different woman, according to Reuters, who cited the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. Those charges have yet to be made public, but the actor is expected to enter a not guilty plea on Tuesday, the news organization reports.
Unnamed law enforcement sources told Page Six that the second set of charges are related to an alleged incident that took place in October 2018.
Of the three additional women who have come forward with allegations, all of them have remained anonymous, and their stories date back to 2008, according to Page Six. At least two of the women claimed that Gooding groped their backsides at New York restaurants, while at least one has alleged that the actor not only reached underneath her skirt during a 2018 incident, but also allegedly digitally penetrated her, unnamed law enforcement sources told the outlet.
Gooding’s lawyer, Mark Heller, has denied the new allegations, according to the New York Daily News.
“If there was any evidence it would have already been presented to the grand jury,” he said. “The allegations will never result in a conviction for anything.”
Speaking to Page Six on Monday, Heller pointed out that Gooding has only been charged in relation to two alleged incidents. He said of the October 2018 incident that led to the second crop of charges, “We believe that is the only new allegation joined to the indictment. We believe it is totally incredulous and will not give rise to any conviction at all.”
Heller went on to say that the unnamed woman who accused Gooding of digitally penetrating her without her consent — an accusation that has not led to charges at present time — previously tried to pressure Gooding into paying her following his arrest over the summer.
“It happened in excess of a year ago, and it’s a case the alleged accuser never pressed in that whole time nor did the police press it. She simply came forward when Cuba got arrested, and that was after Cuba declined to be shaken down by her. … Because it was not appropriate and not a truthful allegation, Cuba declined to be shaken down,” he said, adding, “When a high-profile case comes about, very frequently a lot of people come out of the woodwork.”
Gooding’s trial regarding the first set of charges was initially set to begin on Thursday, but in light of the new charges, his trial has been delayed, according to Reuters.
Heller told Page Six earlier this month that he believed prosecutors purposely delayed the trial.
“It has been 118 days since Cuba has been arrested, and we have seen the district attorney having compiled hundreds of pages of irrelevant and non-incriminating material,” he said. “They have conducted in excess of seven interviews. They actually put together 2,500 videos, which, having reviewed them, do not reflect any criminal conduct.”
“Clearly, the district attorney, in my view, has used this as a strategy,” he continued.
Gooding has maintained his innocence.
“I trust the system and the process will speak for itself. There’s a tape that shows what really happened. That’s the most important thing — let’s not take away from that,” he told TMZ in June, when speaking on the original charges.
Gooding’s lawyer has since tried to paint the first accuser as being mentally “troubled,” claiming in court documents filed in July that she is “predisposed” to making “false allegations.”
If convicted on the first set of charges, Gooding could face up to a year in jail.
Gooding rose to fame with roles in films like 1991’s “Boyz n The Hood” and 1996’s “Jerry Maguire,” the latter of which landed Gooding an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
