Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty to one count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York City rooftop bar back in 2018, three years after being arrested and accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct.
In the Oscar winner’s guilty plea, Gooding, 54, admitted that he “kissed the waitress on her lips” inside the LAVO New York restaurant and nightclub without consent.
The plea deal, made Wednesday, is for no jail time, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times. Additionally, provided he attends six months of counseling, he can instead plead guilty to harassment at a lower level than misdemeanor.
“I apologize for ever making anybody feel inappropriately touched,” Gooding told the courtroom, per the Times.
Back in June 2019, Gooding turned himself in to the New York Police Department following allegations that he groped a woman at a rooftop bar in Manhattan.
The woman said Gooding was “highly intoxicated” at the time of the incident and groped her breasts at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in Manhattan. Two more accusations came out months later, one of which is the one he pleaded guilty to.
If the long-delayed case went to trial, prosecutors were planning to call 19 witnesses with similar accusations against Gooding to show a pattern of alleged behavior, the AP reported.
Separately, in 2020, Cuba Gooding was accused of raping a woman twice in 2013 inside his New York City hotel room. He has denied the claims and the case is ongoing.
Some of Gooding’s most recent major roles include O.J. Simpson in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. and American Horror Story: Roanoke, both released in 2016.
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. born January 2, 1968, is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Emmy nomination.
In 1994, Gooding married his high school sweetheart, Sara Kapfer, with whom he has three children: Spencer Gooding, Piper Gooding, and actor Mason Gooding. In 2014, Kapfer filed for legal separation from Gooding. Gooding filed for divorce in January 2017.