NEW YORK (AP) – Cuban actor Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to forcibly kissing an employee at a New York nightclub in 2018, calling himself a “celebrity figure” who meant nothing.
Gooding also apologized publicly for the first time to two other women who accused him of similar behavior in separate meetings. The allegations were part of a plea deal that came almost three years after the arrest of Oscar-winning star Jerry Maguire in a case that was delayed as his lawyers tried to reduce or dismiss the charges.
“I apologize for making someone feel inappropriate,” he said. “I am a celebrity. I get in touch with people. “I never want them to feel cheap or uncomfortable in any way.”
Gooding, 54, accused of harassing three different women at various Manhattan nightclubs in 2018 and 2019, pleaded guilty to only one of the charges. She told the judge she “kissed the waitress on the lips” without consent at the LAVO club in New York.
The agreement allows Gooding to avoid any possibility of imprisonment if he continues to give advice on “alcohol and behavior modification” for six months. After that, he can withdraw the misdemeanor objection and instead plead guilty to a lesser violation of harassment.
Gooding was arrested in June 2019 after a 29-year-old told police he had her chest tightened without her consent at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square.
A few months later, he was charged in two additional cases, as more women showed up to accuse him of abuse. The new allegations claim that he bit the buttocks of a server after he made her a sexually suggestive comment in TAO Downtown and violently touched the woman in LAVO, both in 2018.
Gooding had previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of misdemeanor charges and denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers argued that the overzealous prosecutors, trapped in the heat of the #MeToo movement, were trying to turn “common gestures” or misunderstandings into crimes.
Judge Curtis Farber had earlier ruled that if Gooding’s case went to trial, prosecutors could summon two additional women to testify about their allegations that Gooding had also violated them. Prosecutors say the judge has since overturned that decision – a decision that took into account their decision not to stand trial.
“We value and believe in all the survivors in this case,” said Attorney General Coleen Balbert. But under these circumstances, Wednesday’s result “is a fair and equitable mood,” he added.
Along with the criminal case, Gooding is accused of raping a woman in New York in 2013. After a judge ruled in absentia in July that Gooding had not responded to the lawsuit, the actor kept a lawyer and the allegations clash.
