One-time Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. has been known more for his partying lifestyle than acting his recent years — as his last notable performances were in both 2016 FX anthology series’ The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and American Horror Story: Roanoke. And now, it would appear that his habits may have gotten him into some trouble.
While patronizing the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar in Midtown, Manhattan on Sunday night, a 30-year-old woman claims that the 51-year-old actor was “highly intoxicated” and grabbed her breast around 9 p.m. After the alleged incident, the woman reportedly got into an argument with Gooding that had to be broken up by security and he was seen leaving the nightclub shortly after.
The woman later called 911 and reported the incident around 1 a.m.
TMZ caught up with Gooding late Tuesday as he was about to board a flight back to New York City from Los Angeles, where he said he is “absolutely not” guilty of what he’s been accused of.
“I trust the system, and the process speaks for itself,” he said, when asked about the allegations. There’s a tape that shows what really happened — that’s the most important thing.”
“I was at the club, I left,” Gooding elaborated, when pressed about what did really happen. “I met a bunch of people, I said hello, I took pictures and … you know, you have to have faith in what people say.”
“All I have to say is the following, in this time and age we need to let people speak for themselves, we have to let people express themselves,” he continued, shutting down the possibility that the grope may have been accidental. “And now I’m giving the process the chance to show what really happened, what went down.”