Cuba Gooding Jr. first broke onto the scene
in 1991's Boyz N the Hood, winning an Oscar
for best supporting actor in Jerry Maguire
six years later.
But in more recent years, he's been accused
of some seriously dark behavior.
Let's look at Cuba Gooding Jr.'s alleged sketchy
side.
For some people, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s fall from
grace began the moment he stepped on to that
stage to collect his Oscar for the 1996 film
Jerry Maguire.
"Jerry, talk to me.
Breathe!
Breathe, Jerry!"
The actor's excitement was certainly palpable.
He gushed, yelled over the orchestra, and
effusively thanked God.
He also made sure that pretty much everyone
in the room knew that he loved them...nevertheless,
the speech was criticized by some of his peers.
As director Lee Daniels told The New York
Times:
"A lot of black people were put off.
What happened from that point was he lost
respect from the Boyz N the Hood crowd.
And as a businessman he went out for the money.
As an actor of color you have to be careful,
and he chose to go for the money instead of
the art."
Following his Oscar win for Jerry Maguire,
Cuba Gooding Jr. appeared in a whole bunch
of middling fare.
We're talking seriously forgettable flicks
like Rat Race, Snow Dogs, and Chill Factor.
As The New York Times points out,
"[These films] were generally eviscerated
by the critics."
Nevertheless, Gooding claims he chose these
projects with the utmost care, telling The
Guardian:
"For me, it was always about protecting the
sanctity of that golden statue…Because I
felt I needed to show people that I can do
more, I can do better."
Really, though?
Meanwhile, he reportedly passed on both Ali
and Amistad, and admits that he backed away
from starring roles in Ray, Collateral, Hotel
Rwanda, and The Last King of Scotland.
Five of those six roles subsequently earned
Oscar nominations, and two actors won: Jamie
Foxx for Ray and Forest Whitaker for The Last
King of Scotland.
As Gooding explained to The Guardian,
"I had all these big directors offering me
roles, and I read their scripts and said,
'I don't think this part is right for me.'
And what happens is, if you offend enough
big directors, you get taken off their lists."
Unfortunately, Cuba Gooding Jr. has chosen
more than a few films that could be seen as
wildly offensive and deeply stupid.
The first and arguably the worst is Boat Trip,
an abymal 2003 movie filled with gay-panic
jokes, gay stereotypes, and outright homophobia.
"You're abandoning me?
What am I supposed to do?"
"Luxury cruise.
Not everyting is gay-oriented."
As he told The New York Times in 2006,
"When I got to Boat Trip, I thought it was
time to do something that was going to make
me a $20 million player."
Well, he didn't choose very wisely in the
end.
Here's what passes for funny in Boat Trip:
"I am Sonya.
Coach of Tanning Team."
"What?"
"Quiet!"
The Washington Post reported that the film
was protested.
Meanwhile, The Advocate claimed that
"[The film is actually] too terrible to protest."
Boat Trip was certainly a stain on Gooding's
résumé, but instead of following the flop
with a strong project, he took on Radio instead.
The actor plays the titular character in this
2003 film, which the AV Club ranked at No.
6 on its list of,
"17 mostly awful portrayals of people with
intellectual disabilities"
"It's a radio!"
"Yeah."
"It's a radio!"
"Turn it on.
See if it works."
While the film attempts to be good-hearted,
it ultimately comes off totally cringeworthy
and clichéd.
As for Gooding's character, the AV Club wrote
that,
"He has huge, messed-up Hollywood teeth and
he's excited by the choo-choo train.
He does baby voices."
In 2016, Vulture asked Gooding why he was
taking on more and more television roles.
like his performance in The People vs. O.J.
Simpson.
"So you're saying I need a new lawyer?"
"I'm saying your lawyer should be here."
In regards to his move to the small screen,
he told the publication,
"I was in the wilderness of Hollywood for
almost ten years.
I was off the studio lists.
I wasn't getting the roles offered to actors
that hadn't done a third of the roles I had
done, or had the popularity I had."
But that's not to say he wasn't getting a
lot of press, even though it was overwhelmingly
negative publicity.
In 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for
Gooding after he allegedly pushed a female
bartender against a wall in a New Orleans
establishment called The Old Absinthe House.
According to The Globe and Mail, a statement
issued by police detailed how fans were asking
the actor to take photos with them.
The statement read,
"The bartender said Gooding soon became very
aggravated with them."
And when the bartender asked Gooding to calm
down,
"[He] allegedly pushed her away with an open
hand."
Meanwhile, authorities claimed that,
"Gooding then allegedly pushed her again,
and left the bar."
According to a statement from the bar's spokesperson,
the bartender eventually decided to drop all
charges.
For many years, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s allegedly
wild ways were obsessively documented in the
press.
For example, Page Six published a story in
2013 about the afterparty for the Cinema Society's
screening of Electrick Children.
According to partygoers, Gooding allegedly
told attendees things like,
"I just got out of jail.
I [hooked up] with a leprechaun, who had [hooked
up] with an alligator and got him pregnant.
No, I'm lying, the alligator wasn't pregnant."
Meanwhile, TMZ released a video of the actor
leaving a New York City nightclub in 2016
after a public viewing of The People v. O.J.
Simpson.
Gooding appeared to hug the police officers
outside, asked them not to shoot anyone, and
then tried to race a paparazzo before accidentally
running into a passerby.
Later that year, he was reportedly seen dancing
erratically at a Miami club.
It gets way weirder than that: One party attendee,
a rapped who goes by the name Flash Garments,
told Complex:
"He reached for [my phone] once and missed,
then grabbed it when I wasn't looking...I
was happy as hell when I got my phone back...I
thought he was going to destroy it.
Then he put it in his mouth and I was like,
'What kind of party is this?'"
For whatever reason, award shows and Cuba
Gooding Jr. really don't seem to be a match
made in heaven.
Aside from the aforementioned Oscars speech
in 1997, his behavior at the NHL Awards in
2014 proved equally disastrous.
Gooding was asked to present a number of awards
and mingle with other presenters and winners.
Well, he did do that…and so much more.
According to Yahoo!
Sports,
"[Gooding's] unbridled enthusiasm morphed
into bizarre comedy and then into subtle (but
bleep-worthy) homophobia with Mark Messier
on stage, as he handed out three different
awards."
The most bizarre moment?
That's probably when, as Yahoo!
Sports, put it:
"[He asked] Mark Messier and Adam Graves to
make a reverse Oreo with him, 'Double Stuffed.'"
A couple years later, Gooding presented the
Social Impact Award to his friend, designer
John Varvatos, at the Footwear News Achievement
Awards.
Well, Footwear News reports that the actor
once again produced a memorable off-script
speech for all the guests, saying that:
"I think we all owe a debt of gratitude for
this amazing meal they put together tonight.
Because nothing says I love you like f---ing
sugar.
F---ing boxed lunch.
I'm drunk now, motherf---ers, so deal with
it.
I thought the BET Awards were cheap."
Of all the embarrassing things Cuba Gooding
Jr. has done in front of the camera, this
might be the worst.
In 2017, he appeared at an American Horror
Story: Roanoke panel…and many people felt
his behavior was wildly inappropriate.
"They're just trying to freak us out so that
we'll leave."
"Well, it's working."
After his co-star Sarah Paulson took the PaleyFest
stage and greeted the other panelists, Gooding
crept up from behind her and lifted up her
skirt.
Paulson just laughed off the moment.
But, as Digital Spy noted, that wasn't even
the first time Gooding had grabbed her skirt
that night, and fans were far from pleased.
About a week later, Gooding suggested to People
that the controversial incident had been taken
out of context:
"I love the lady that is Sarah Paulson.
We have a banter like brother and sister,
which is how the spirit of that whole panel
was."
Gooding went on to say that,
"[It was] a very teachable moment [for my
sons.]"
But it's worth mentioning that the lesson
here, as he saw it, wasn't about the fact
that it's not okay to lift a woman's skirt
without her consent.
Instead, it was teachable because,
"[it showed them that] images are going to
be out there without your control, so continue
standing in your integrity."
Accusations of inappropriate flirting have
long dogged the actor.
According to a 2016 Page Six story, Gooding's
idea of flirting at the Fontainebleau Hotel
in Miami Beach consisted mainly of creeping
the other guests out.
One woman claimed:
"He kept grabbing beers and kissing my sunburn.
It was really uncomfortable."
A week later, Complex spoke with Flash Garments,
yes, the aforementioned rapper who claimed
Gooding tried to eat his phone.
He claimed the actor was getting rather frisky
with women at the club, saying that:
"He kissed one girl's hand...Then he started
doing weirder stuff like putting his fingers
in his mouth and touching her face."
A few days later, another Page Six article
claimed Gooding got a little too cozy with
some fans who wanted to take selfies with
the star.
The article claims he asked one good-looking
stranger a question so sexually explicit we
won't even repeat it here.
A supposed friend of this woman told The New
York Post:
"She was disgusted, and told us to finish
up our drinks and leave.
Cuba was very forward with the other girls
in our group, grabbing their hips and placing
his hands where they felt uncomfortable."
The first case against Gooding
In 2019, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s questionable behavior
allegedly reached a tipping point.
In June of that year, the actor was accused
of groping a female patron at a Manhattan
bar.
According to a source that spoke to CNN,
"[Gooding] allegedly groped her breasts.
The victim later told cops she protested at
the unwanted touching and they argued about
the encounter."
Despite telling TMZ that he was innocent and
that video surveillance would clear his name,
Gooding later turned himself in to the NYPD
for questioning.
As CNN reports,
"[He was charged with] forcible touching,
a misdemeanor, and sex abuse in the third
degree."
"If convicted, however, he could face up to
a year behind bars."
Gooding pleaded not guilty, and his attorney
Mark Heller remained confident that the actor
would be found innocent in the resulting trial.
In October 2019, Heller told reporters,
"In my 50 years, almost, of practicing law,
I have never seen a case like this one because
there is not a scintilla of criminal culpability
that can be attributed to Mr. Cuba Gooding
Jr."
The second case
While Cuba Gooding Jr. was embroiled in his
first sexual misconduct trial, he was hit
with another serious allegation in October
2019: Another woman came forward and accused
the actor of grabbing her buttocks…and she
claimed he made sexually explicit remarks
to her at a New York City nightclub the previous
year.
According to TMZ, Gooding also pleaded not
guilty to these allegations.
Meanwhile, the media outlet learned that a
third woman had come forward with claims against
the actor shortly thereafter.
Gooding has since pleaded not guilty to this
third charge.
According to court documents obtained by the
Los Angeles Times in October 2019, there are
at least 12 other women who claim to have
experienced alleged sexual misconduct from
Gooding since 2001.
In a piece describing some of these claims
in more detail, Page Six reported that Gooding
had yet to be charged for any of these additional
allegations.
However, the media outlet notes that,
"Prosecutors hope to still introduce their
claims in court to prove a pattern of sexual
abuse."
Outlining the alleged instances of unwanted
touching and groping, prosecutors stated that
"[The] defendant's past behavior shows that
he routinely approaches women while at bars
or nightclubs with whom he has had limited
or no prior interaction, and touches them
inappropriately."
"Cuba Gooding Jr. could be facing a much more
serious charge, perhaps a felony.
It is all still unclear."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your
favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the
bell so you don't miss a single one.
