- Cuba Gooding Jr. is an American Oscar-winning actor
- He is best known for his work on Jerry Maguire
- Cuba Gooding Jr. has plead guilty to forcible touching
Cuba Gooding Jr. is by and large one of the most colorful actors that Hollywood has spawned in recent times. His spontaneity and charisma on camera led him to be cast in some of the biggest film of the last 30 years. But like many other men in Tinsel Town, he now finds himself on the wrong side of the headlines after pleading guilty to forcible touching while appearing in court on April 13. But how did this happen?
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Cuba Gooding Jr. Is On The Long Road To Recovery
Gooding, 54, is accused of violating three different women at various Manhattan night spots in 2018 and 2019. Today in a court appearance, he pleaded guilty to just one of the allegations. Gooding told the judge he “kissed the waitress on her lips” without consent at the LAVO New York club.
There is good news for the actor, all things considered. The deal lets him avoid any possibility of jail time if he continues “alcohol and behavior modification” counseling for six months. Something that is not a strange phenomenon to Gooding Jr. who has admitted to having a problem with substance abuse in the past.
After that six months is up, the judge explained he can withdraw the misdemeanor plea and instead plead guilty to a lesser violation of harassment. I's unclear if his lawyers will advise in favor of that. Either way, it looks like a long road to recovery ahead of Cuba Gooding Jr.
But many detractors have pointed to a disturbing pattern of behavior that has followed the actor ever since the #MeToo movement some years ago in 2017.
Not The First Time Cuba Gooding Jr. Has Been Accused
Gooding was arrested back in June of 2019 after a 29-year-old woman told police that Gooding Jr. squeezed her breast without her consent at a New York bar near Times Square. A few months later, he was charged in two additional cases as more women came forward to accuse him of the same kind of abuse.
These new charges alleged he pinched a server’s buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark to her at the bar and forcibly touched the woman at LAVO. Both happened in 2018. This is sure to come back to haunt him in the court of public opinion.
The news is likely to spark debate again about sexual harassment and the culture of protecting powerful people from its consequences. And Gooding is just another famous name that will perhaps go down in infamy after a wonderful acting career.
However, the actor seems ready to put this chapter of his life behind him and start fresh with a new outlook, and without the habits that led to this kind of behavior. Although, it's unlikely Hollywood will welcome the actor back, everyone loves a good comeback story and nothing is impossible with the stars!
