Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads not guilty to sexual abuse charges
Attorney for actor Cuba Gooding Jr. says surveillance video will clear his client; Jacqui Heinrich reports from New York.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. on Monday denied a disturbing sexual-assault claim against him, which emerged amid allegations he groped a woman at a nightclub in New York City.
A social media and internet star claimed Gooding inserted his finger into her backside.
Claudia Oshry – known for her Instagram account “Girl With No Job” – made the heinous allegations on the June 11 episode of her podcast “The Morning Toast.”
"At the end of the day – like, I don't know if I've ever considered myself to be, like, a victim of sexual assault because I'm not," she said last Tuesday during the program. "There are people who are real victims that I would never compare myself to them. But yes, when I was in high school – I was f---ing 16 years old – Cuba Gooding Jr. put his finger up my butt, and I felt wild.”
She continued, “Like, I felt – I don't even know what the right word is. And now, it's just become, like, a part of who I am. It's a part of my story."
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. arriving at the New York Police Department's Special Victim's Unit last week to face allegations he groped a woman at a city nightspot. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
On Monday, Gooding’s attorney, Mark Heller, denied Oshry’s allegations in a comment to E! News and said Gooding didn’t recognize or remember Oshry at all.
“Cuba says this incident never happened and he has no recollection of this individual either," Heller said.
Oshry, who also tours as a comedian, added that she has since worked the experience she had with Gooding, 51, into her material and said she has met audience members on her comedy circuit who claimed to have similar run-ins with the “Jerry McGuire” star becoming too hands-on with them at bars and clubs.
From l-r: "Southern Charm" stars Ashley Jacobs and boyfriend Thomas Ravanel with "Morning Toast" hosts Jackie Oshry and Claudia Oshry, right. (Morning Toast)
“At least once every show, someone who comes up to me, they’re like, ‘Oh my God! Me and my friends were at a club and the same thing happened to me’ or ‘the same thing happened to my friend,'” she revealed during the podcast. “This is not the first time that I’ve heard, but this is the first time I’ve heard that police are involved.”
Oshry praised Gooding’s anonymous accuser for coming forward against the Academy Award winner last week telling police that he grabbed her breast at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in New York City.
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Claudia Oshry (L) and Jackie Oshry attend the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for dcp)
“Good on this, girl,” Oshry said of the 30-year-old woman. “Because how many f---ing people is he going to grope before one of them calls the police? Mine was 10 years ago!”
Gooding surrendered himself to police custody on Thursday at the Manhattan’s Special Victims Division before he was transported to the Manhattan Criminal court, where he pleaded not guilty via his attorney to charges of sexual abuse and forcible touching.
Neither Oshry or reps for Gooding immediately responded to Fox News’ request for comment.
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