An additional seven women have accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of misconduct, according to newly available court documents – meaning a total of 22 women are now alleging that he made unwanted sexual contact.
The new accusers, whose allegations against Gooding range from non-consensual kissing to aggressive touching, were part of court filings in the actor’s ongoing groping case. Gooding is not charged in relation to these seven women’s claims.
The Jerry Maguire actor is presently charged in Manhattan court for alleged groping incidents involving three women. Those charges involve an allegation that he grabbed a woman’s breast at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in June, that he kissed a waitress without consent at LAVO in September 2018, and that he “pinched the buttocks of a woman without her consent†at Tao nightclub in October 2018
Gooding has maintained his innocence.
Prosecutors revealed in October that 12 more women had come to them with allegations against Gooding; these uncharged accusations included unwanted licking, kissing, and biting dating to 2001.
The additional seven women have described similar alleged encounters.
One woman claims that Gooding approached her at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 in Park City, Utah. Gooding then invited her to an event. She joined him and then they went to a concert, court papers claim.
Gooding, prosecutors say, asked her why she wasn’t drinking her drink, allegedly saying, “Aren’t you a picky b—h?†She decided to leave and an incensed Gooding said he’d walk her out. “While they were walking in a back secluded hallway the defendant began to kiss [the woman] without her consent. When she pushed him away, said no and noted that [Gooding] was married, the defendant placed his hands on her buttocks,†prosecutors said.
The woman then “felt the defendant push his hand forcefully into the crotch area of her tights,placing his fingers on her anus. He used such force that it caused the crotch of her tights to rip,†prosecutors wrote. “The defendant only released [the woman] when she bit his cheek causing him to recoil and grab for his cheek.â€
“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. “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.â€
A judge will decide at a later date whether these claims can be used against Gooding in court.
Asked for comment on these additional uncharged claims, Gooding’s lawyer, Mark Heller, said his client “has and does deny all allegations of criminal conduct - 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.â€
“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,†Heller said in his emailed comment.