Ok. Maybe We Have Something Here.
So, we covered the travails of Cuba Gooding, Jr., (Jerry Maguire) here earlier in the summer, and now, we have on the authority of the trades, a report that, well, it’s about to get dicier for the actor.
From the trades:
Prosecutors on Tuesday accused Cuba Gooding, Jr., of a long-standing pattern of approaching unfamiliar women in bars and kissing, pinching, biting or groping them.
Patterns. Human beings are pattern-seeking machines, trying to make sense out of chaos.
And also when trying to mate.
Groping, Biting, and Grinding
Wait, wait, Goblin, there’s more:
Prosecutors said they also intended to call another 12 women to testify in support of the charges. The so-called “Molineux” witnesses allege that Gooding groped them, bit their shoulders or grinded against them in incidents dating back to 2001.
“Defendant’s past behavior shows that he routinely approaches women while at bars or nightclubs with whom he has limited or no prior interaction, and touches them inappropriately,” wrote assistant district attorney Jenna Long.
Remember how we wrote that prosecutors don’t typically move forward unless they’re sure they can get what they’re after?
Remember how the victim of the original incident didn’t want to help the prosecutors and refused to testify?
Remember how Bill Cosby’s life unwound slowly and publicly?
Yeah. Pepperidge Farm remembers as well.
The “Molineux” witnesses
Clearly the prosecution is leaking these details to the entertainment media in the hopes that Gooding’s lawyers will submit a plea bargain.
Clearly the prosecutors, in this case, are political actors as well as legal ones.
Clearly, Gooding has a problem keeping his hands to himself—thus the “forcible” touching charge—and should probably remember that winning an Oscar more than twenty years ago doesn’t mean diddly to potential mates who weren’t even born when you won it.
Is there a #MeToo moment happening to Gooding here?
Well, what do you think? Do fourteen complaining witnesses have something to say here?
Get after it, Goblins.
