Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads guilty to forcible touching

Almost three years after he was hit with charges of forcible touching, Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty.

The Oscar-winning Jerry Maguire actor entered his guilty plea on Wednesday after he was accused of groping multiple women, The Associated Press reports. The guilty plea stems from an allegation that he forcibly touched a woman at a nightclub in 2018.

"I apologize for ever making anybody feel inappropriately touched," Gooding Jr. said, The New York Times reports.

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Gooding also told the judge he "kissed the waitress on her lips" without consent at the nightclub, per the AP. He will avoid jail time as part of his plea deal and must continue undergoing alcohol and behavior counseling, according to Variety. He previously pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer said in 2019 he "did absolutely nothing wrong" and that "I am completely confident that he will be totally exonerated."

After he was arrested in 2019 for allegedly grabbing a woman's breast without consent at New York's Magic Hour Rooftop Bar, Gooding Jr. was also accused of groping two other women at nightclubs in separate incidents a year prior. One woman alleged the actor pinched her buttocks, and another said he forcibly touched her. By 2020, prosecutors said 30 women had come forward with claims that the actor inappropriately touched them.

Separately, a woman filed a civil lawsuit in 2020 accusing Gooding of raping her at a hotel in 2013. He denied the allegation.