ACTOR SHAME
Cuba Gooding Jr pleads guilty to forcibly kissing waitress on the lips at NYC nightclub in plea deal to try & avoid jail
CUBA Gooding Jr has pleaded guilty to forcibly kissing a waitress on the lips at a New York City nightclub.
The incident involving the shamed Oscar-winning star happened at the LAVO nightclub in 2018.
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Gooding Jr has been accused of violating three different women between 2018 and 2019.
The actor pled guilty to just one of the allegations.
Gooding Jr told the court on Wednesday that he kissed the waitress on the lips without consent at LAVO.
He said: “I apologize for making anybody ever feel inappropriately touched.
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“I never want them to feel slighted or uncomfortable in any way.”
Gooding Jr agreed a plea deal and called for no jail time.
He must continue with an alcohol and behavior modification counseling program for six months.
The actor may be able to plead guilty to a charge of harassment if he completes the course.
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Gooding Jr’s guilty plea came years after he was arrested in June 2019.
A woman, 29, told cops that he had squeezed her breast without consent at a nightclub near Times Square.
In 2018, the actor allegedly pinched a waitress’s buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark.
Gooding Jr had previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor counts and denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Prosecutor Coleen Balbert said: “We credit and believe all survivors in this case.”
Balbert branded the outcome “fair and equitable” amid the circumstances.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents three of the actor's accusers, said: “Justice was significantly delayed in this case for many reasons, and I don’t feel that justice was achieved today with the entry of this plea, although I do understand why under the circumstances that the prosecution offered a plea.”
Gooding Jr won an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Jerry Maguire.
He also starred in the movies Men of Honor, Pearl Harbor, and the crime film American Gangster.
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The actor played OJ Simpson in the 2016 drama The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
Gooding Jr also won a Screen Actors Guild Award and received an Emmy nomination.
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