When the Me Too Movement scandal broke in October 2017, sickening allegations against many famous filmmakers and journalists rightfully lost their careers that included, Harvey Weinstein, Louis CK, Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose.
These individuals allegedly preyed on women (sometimes underage and in Spacey’s case, with young men) for decades with zero consequences for their actions until they were empowered by the movement to share their harrowing experiences these powerful people took advantage of.
And now one A-list actor just turned himself into police after a woman accused him of groping her in a New York area bar.
Cuba Gooding Jr. was one of the most powerful African Americans in Hollywood in the 1990’s.
His career started off with a bang when he starred in “Boyz in the Hood” in 1991 and had only bit roles in movies and television until that point.
Then he started landing bit roles in big movies like “Outbreak” and “A Few Good Men.”
But it wasn’t until his smash hit performance in 1996 as Rod Tidwell in “Jerry Maguire” that he had finally arrived as one the most famous African Americans in all of Hollywood – outside of Will Smith of course. Gooding Jr. won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for “Jerry Maguire” and it was well-deserved because he and Regina King stole that movie.
From there he snagged some great roles like in “As Good as It Gets,” “Men of Honor” and “Pearl Harbor.” He was on his way until a series of box-office bombs sullied his promising career like “Rat Race,” “Snow Dogs,” “Boat Trip” and “Radio.”
Gooding’s career was stagnant for over a decade until he took on the role of playing O.J. Simpson in “The People vs. O.J.” in 2016. He had a comeback that looked to be similar to John Travolta’s with “Pulp Fiction.”
Now, he’s in a world of trouble because a woman has accused him of groping her at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge near Times Square in Manhattan on Sunday night. She alleges Gooding fondled her breasts.
The New York Police Department’s Special Victims Division investigated and acquired a video of the alleged incident from the bar.
Gooding is cooperating and plans to turn himself in soon.
The 51-year-old actor claimed he is “absolutely not” guilty.
He also told TMZ that he trusts “the system,” and added, “There’s a tape that shows what really happened – that’s the most important thing.”
Gooding also said, “I was at the club, I left. I met a bunch of people, I said hello, I took pictures and … you know, you have to have faith in what people are saying … now I’m giving the process the chance to show what happened, what went down.”
Many news outlets called the ICM Agency (International Creative Management) for a comment but they confirmed they no longer represent the Academy Award winning actor. It’s unclear whether this was a recent decision or not, but it looks like he’s not represented at all.
