Cuba Gooding Jr. rejects harassment allegations in court

The US actor Cuba Gooding Jr., accused of sexual assault, has rejected the allegations of two women in court. The 51-year-old appeared on Tuesday to read the indictment in front of a judge in New York. His client pleaded "not guilty," said Gooding's attorney Mark Heller after the hearing outside the courthouse. The actor was "completely innocent", the accusations Heller called unbelievable.

As early as June, a woman accused Gooding of having touched her immoral at a Manhattan bar party. The actor already rejected this in court. In addition, there are now allegations of another woman who brought an alleged harassment in a New York restaurant last October, as the broadcaster CNN reported.

According to the prosecutor, in the meantime twelve other women charged with harassment charges against the actor. They accuse Gooding Jr. of having touched them in bars, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs without their permission. The incidents are said to have occurred in the years 2001 to 2018 in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Dallas.

Next hearing in December

The beginning of the trial against Gooding Jr. was actually scheduled for last week. Because the original indictment, which was based on a woman's testimony, was extended, the case was postponed at short notice. Also on Tuesday no date was set for the beginning of the process. The next hearing was scheduled for the 13th of December.

Gooding had his first major role in 1991 in the teen drama Boyz n the Hood. For his portrayal of a football player in "Jerry Maguire" he won in 1997 an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He recently appeared on The People vs. OJ Simpson's American Crime Story series. In it he embodies the once suspected murdered, but then acquitted football player OJ Simpson.