'Jerry Maguire' Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching
Cuba Gooding Jr. has been accused of abuse by three different women, for instances in 2018 and 2019.
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(Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual assault)
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a woman at a New York club in 2018. The actor was arrested almost three years ago and his guilty plea is part of an agreement that spares him any immediate jail time, Reuters reported. He can reportedly withdraw the misdemeanor plea and plead guilty for a lesser violation if he attends counseling for six months.
Gooding has been accused of abuse by three women for three separate incidents at various places in Manhattan in 2018 and 2019. Gooding pleaded guilty for one of three charges. The actor told the judge that he “kissed the waitress on her lips” without her consent.
"I apologize for ever making anybody feel inappropriately touched," the New York Times quoted Gooding as saying in court.
The actor had pleaded not guilty to six counts of misdemeanor and had denied all the allegations leveled against him. His lawyers had also accused the prosecutors of trying to turn “commonplace gestures” into crimes.
The judge had ruled that if the case went to trial, prosecutors would be allowed to call two more women to testify against Gooding. These women would be 2 out of the 19 other accusers whom the prosecutors wanted to present as witnesses.
Gooding has also filed to dismiss a $6 million civil lawsuit filed by a woman accusing the actor of rape, twice in 2013 at the Mercer hotel in Manhattan. A federal judge rejected Gooding’s bid and US District Judge Paul Crotty noted that the woman didn’t take ‘too long’ to file a case against Gooding. The actor has denied the allegations.
Cuba Gooding Jr. won the Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for the film Jerry Maguire and has also played the role of O.J Simpson in the show The People v. O.J. Simpson.
(With inputs from Reuters and The Guardian)
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