Cuba Gooding Jr. has denied pinching a woman’s bottom.
The ‘Jerry Maguire’ actor – who is already facing trial in connection with an alleged groping incident in June – has pleaded not guilty to one count of forcible touching and one count of sexual abuse, which are misdemeanours, after he allegedly squeezed the woman’s behind at Manhattan’s Tao nightclub last October.
The prosecutors told the court in a hearing on Tuesday (15.10.19) in Manhattan, New York, that Gooding Jr. had made a sexually suggestive remark to the lady earlier on in the evening but he reportedly denied it when she confronted him.
The 51-year-old star’s plea comes just four months after he denied touching a woman’s breast in a separate incident at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar in Manhattan.
The unnamed woman claimed she got into an argument with the "highly intoxicated" ‘American Crime Story’ star after he allegedly groped her bosom.
However, his lawyer insisted he had seen video footage of "the entire event" and "there was not a drop of criminal conduct or inappropriate activity on his part.
Prosecutors said during today’s hearing that they were hoping to demonstrate a pattern of behaviour at Gooding Jr’s trial using testimonies from 12 other women who have claimed they’ve been subjected to unwanted touching by the actor in the past.
However, no criminal charges have been brought in connection with those women.
Gooding Jr’s lawyer Mark Heller told reporters outside the courthouse on that he would seek to have the alleged incidents tried separately but that he was almost certain that the actor would not be convicted of the alleged crimes.
He also claimed that prosecutors had brought the new indictment because they weren’t ready to go to trial with their original case, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday (17.10.19), and were trying to buy themselves some more time.
There has been no new trial date set at time of writing.
Cuba Gooding Jr. denies pinching woman’s butt
