Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleaded Not Guilty In His Groping Case But The Video Evidence Suggests Otherwise
Cuba Gooding Jr. was all smiles as he did his perp walk after turning himself over to police. He was booked and charged with “one count of forcible touching and one count of sexual abuse in the third degree” over a groping incident that occurred on Sunday at the Magic Hour Rooftop Lounge in Manhattan, according to Vulture. This morning he pleaded not guilty to both charges. And now, TMZ now has the video surveillance footage that Cuba and his attorney both indicated would exonerate him of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately for Cuba, instead of proving he didn’t grope his accuser’s thigh and breast, it pretty much proves that Cuba groped his accuser’s thigh and breast. Oops!
According to TMZ:
Cuba Gooding Jr. definitely touched the thigh and breast of the woman accusing him of groping — it’s clear in this surveillance video obtained by TMZ — but his attorneys seem to be interpreting the video much differently from police.
In the video, Cuba is sitting on the couch and his girlfriend Claudine De Niro (white pants) come over and who sits next to him. His accuser, then comes up with a drink in her hand and sits next to Claudine (who happens to be the estranged wife of Robert De Niro’s son). Cuba then can be seen reaching over Claudine to “place his hand on the woman’s left thigh”.
A few seconds later his hand moves up to her breast, and the accuser puts her hand on his. What happens next is open to interpretation — she either pushes his hand back toward him, or he pulls her hand to his mouth and kisses it.
Here’s the video.
There is a lot going on here. Now I know how the FBI felt going over the Zapruder tape. In case you missed it, after the alleged groping, another man comes over and “gyrates, drawing attention to his crotch” and “it appears Gooding and his GF playfully paw at his crotch.” Then the dude takes Cuba’s drink, there’s more weird touching, some bad wiggle dancing, then everybody gets up as Cuba appears to chair walk out, and the room clears. There’s no confrontation between Cuba and his accuser at this point, but about 30 minutes later there was one. Sort of.
However, about 30 minutes later … Cuba and Claudine were downstairs lounging on a couch and making out. A man, who we’re told works security for the bar, was standing next to the couch when the accuser approached him and started arguing.
We’ve blurred her face to protect her identity, but she appears to say, “Yes, he did.” She repeated that after the security guard shook his head. It’s unclear if Cuba heard their conversation, but he got up, stumbled and then walked right past the accuser and left.
Claudine and the security guard followed right behind him.
Here’s Cuba’s perp walk from yesterday, looking like he just ate the best grilled shit sandwich of his life.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is led from the special victims unit in handcuffs on his way to court in Lower Manhattan after being charged with misdemeanor forcible touching. Updates: https://t.co/q9BLvpVkZc pic.twitter.com/oGksFVbYtS
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) June 13, 2019
And here he is after his arraignment today.
Cuba Gooding Jr. struts out of court, offers support for David Ortiz after arraignment https://t.co/e9yiTt7NMz pic.twitter.com/yedcOFnMpi
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 14, 2019
Not a care in the world! Does he think he’s still O.J.?
Pic: NYPD