Seven more women have come forward to accuse actor Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual misconduct, bringing the total amount of women who have alleged wrongdoing by Gooding to 22.
Gooding, 51, has been accused of grabbing a woman's breasts at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in Times Square in June 2019; kissing a waitress without consent at Midtown restaurant LAVO in September 2018; and pinching a woman's butt without her consent at Tao nightclub in Chelsea in October 2018. In October, TMZ released surveillance video of the Tao incident, and Gooding's attorney argued that his client "taps the lady in the back and turns around to gives her a high five just as a salutation of goodbye — it's not criminal conduct whatsoever."
Gooding is facing six counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse and forcible touching involving those three accusers so far; prosecutors have asked a judge to allow the additional 19 accusers’ allegations to be considered at trial.
Earlier this fall, prosecutors said that a dozen women would testify about Gooding groping, licking, pinching, or biting them without their consent, in addition to the three women who accused him of misconduct. The Post reports that the seven new women who have come forward have similar stories of Gooding's bad behavior. One woman claims that in 2009, Gooding kissed, groped and violated her without consent, ripping her tights and allegedly biting her cheek in the process.
Another woman says that he groped her in 2011, and when she confronted him, he said something to the effect of: “I know you want to be an actress; I can ruin you." In 2016, he allegedly told a woman and her friend, “You guys are peeing on me tonight.” In December 2018, he allegedly told the same woman, “You’re going to sit on my face, pee in my mouth and pee all over me.”
These incidents all date back as long ago as 2003, and span six states including New York, California, Georgia, Utah, Texas and New Mexico.
Gooding’s attorney, Mark Heller, said in a statement that 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."
Gooding will next appear in court in Manhattan on January 22nd, 2020.
