Gooding faces new charges, more claims
NEW YORK — Cuba Gooding Jr. is facing a growing cast of sexual misconduct accusers, with prosecutors Tuesday unveiling new criminal charges against the actor and telling a judge they intend to have up to a dozen women testify that he violated them, too.
Standing in a New York City courtroom, Gooding pleaded not guilty to an indictment that included the new charges, which allege he pinched a woman’s buttocks at a Manhattan nightclub in October 2018 after making a sexually suggestive remark to her earlier in the night.
The indictment expands a case that started with Gooding’s arrest in June after a 29-year-old woman told police that the actor, who won an Oscar for his role in “Jerry Maguire,” squeezed her breast without her consent at another Manhattan night spot. No trial date has been set.
Gooding’s lawyer, Mark Heller, argued the case against him is an example of the #MeToo movement run amok and that overzealous prosecutors are looking to turn “commonplace gestures” into crimes.
The new criminal allegation, Heller said, is the result of a failed shakedown attempt in which the accuser approached Gooding for a confidential settlement after his arrest and then went to the authorities only after he refused to pay up.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined to comment.
Gooding, 51, was released on his own recognizance and didn’t comment as he left court.
Beyond the criminal charges, Gooding’s trial could turn into a referendum on his behavior with women for the better part of his career, as prosecutors look to bolster their case with a parade of potential witnesses who say he violated them in similar settings — bars, hotels and restaurants — as far back as 2001.
Some of the alleged incidents happened outside of New York City, and some are outside of the statute of limitations. None have resulted in criminal charges, but state law allows prosecutors to call accusers not involved in the criminal case as witnesses as they look to show a pattern of misconduct.
In court papers seeking a judge’s permission to have the women testify, Gooding prosecutor Jenna Long said the alleged incidents from his past make clear “that his contacts with (women’s) intimate parts are intentional, not accidental, and that he is not mistaken about their lack of consent.”
The judge, Curtis Farber, said he would rule on the request in December.