Cuba: no villain for rear view
CUBA GOODING JR. and Sarah Paulson were reunited at an event just before the weekend got underway. And this time, Gooding didn’t treat himself to a VIP preview of Paulson’s derriere.
The Oscarwinning actor became a target of heavy ridicule last month, when he was photographed lifting up Paulson’s dress onstage at a Q and A in Los Angeles, causing the actress to shriek.
But Gooding, who recently starred alongside Paulson in both “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and “American Horror Story: Roanoke,” insists that he’s no villain.
“I have two sons, 20 and 22, in college and I tell them all the time, any image that is on the Internet can be interpreted so the only way you can control who you are is moralistically and Sarah Paulson and I love each other,” he insisted at the FX Upfronts at the SVA Theater. According to Gooding, Paulson is family too.
“I see her as my sister and we had a playful banter that day; there was no sexual insinuation on my behavior and on my part and I was horrified to see that,” he insisted. Gooding said that after the event he called Paulson and assured her he loved her.
“’I love you as much as you love me. I get it,’” Gooding says Paulson told him. Gooding is well aware that the Internet response to his actions was unforgiving.
“There are some people that comment negatively when they see something positive just to be the opposite, so you can’t let that affect you,” he said, not seeming to put much stock in criticism that his actions were, at best, demeaning.
Meanwhile, Paulson avoided press at Thursday night’s FX event, telling us only that she’s staying busy with work. “Sleep is not something I’m super familiar with lately but that’s ok — it beats the alternative,” she said. “I’d rather work.”