NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) Cuba Gooding Jr. continues to deny that he groped a woman at a New York City bar.
Gooding has been charged with the misdemeanor of forcible touching after allegedly drunkenly touching a woman’s breast at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in Manhattan. A source with the NYPD told CNN that the woman claims she became angry at the alleged groping and an argument ensued before she left the bar to report the incident to the police. The NYPD Manhattan Special Victims Squad is investigating the incident, CNN reported.
Gooding says he remembers two things distinctly about his accuser, according to TMZ: that he absolutely did not touch the woman’s breast and also that she claimed to love one of his worst movies, “Snow Dogs.”
Gooding attorney Mark Heller said that his client’s accuser approached him at the club, sitting down on the couch next to him and his girlfriend, and said that she was a fan of his movies, especially “Snow Dogs.”
Gooding apparently thought she was trolling him, shouting out “Snow Dogs,” but he decided to be friendly, according to Heller.
There is touching on video surveillance, but Heller says Gooding admits to placing his hand on the woman’s thigh as a cordial gesture then brought his hand up to her hand, not her breast, and kissed her hand as a “friendly gesture.”
Gooding was ever mindful of his girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, who was sitting next to him, according to Heller.
The couple then went downstairs and hung out on a couch when he was informed of being accused of groping. Heller said Gooding had no idea what was going on and was even confused about who the person might be because of all the people he met that night but he did remember her after seeing the video and the interaction regarding “Snow Dogs.”
Since the incident, blogger and podcaster Claudia Oshry alleged on her podcast “The Morning Toast” that Gooding engaged in a non-consensual sexual act with her when she was 16.
Oshry claimed that Gooding inserted his finger into her anus at a dance club without her consent. She says that she didn’t raise the issue with authorities at the time due in part to concerns about being in the club as a minor.
