Cuba Gooding Jr.'s tumultuous journey back to Hollywood grace
Cuba Gooding Jr. has spent most of the past few years in courtrooms. He has been accused of rape and sexual harassment. A few weeks ago, stories emerged about his behaviour toward a man on a yacht emerged. The actor, however, wants to regain Hollywood's favour.
He was a top-tier star. His credits include Jerry Maguire, American Gangster, As Good as It Gets, and Norbit. In recent years, Cuba Gooding Jr. has been sidelined from major Hollywood productions. Several legal cases have been filed against him. After his 2014 divorce from Sara Kapfer, stories began circulating about his abusive, intrusive behaviour towards women. Then, the accusations kept coming.
Cuba Gooding Jr. accused of sexual violence
In the past few years, three women testified in court, claiming they were victims of sexual assault by Cuba Gooding Jr. The accusations involved unwanted touching and kissing. In 2023, the actor was accused of a rape that allegedly occurred 10 years earlier. The woman sought CAD 8 million in damages. The judge informed her that she would have to reveal her identity if the case went to trial. As reported by American media, the parties settled just minutes before the trial began. The terms are unknown, and the prosecution did not proceed.
Shortly after, when everyone thought everything about Gooding Jr. had been uncovered, a scandal broke involving music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was accused of, among other things, human trafficking. Once again, the actor's name appeared in lawsuits, this time accused of sexually molesting producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones on one of Combs' yachts.
Cuba Gooding Jr. in a Christian film
Gooding wants to regain filmmakers' favour. In times of trouble, he turned to God, so the actor embraced the Christian film market. According to Page Six, he starred in "The Firing Squad," described as a Christian adventure drama. It's a story based on facts - three prisoners awaiting execution unexpectedly find faith. "They find Jesus within the prison walls," the producer stated. "Facing execution in an Indonesian prison, three condemned inmates find unexpected solace as they embrace their faith and discover the power of hope and forgiveness," it reads.
"I got the script sent to me for this film, and it hit me so powerfully that these men had nothing to live for, but found faith in the darkest times in their lives, in a jail cell," Gooding Jr. said in an interview, adding, "A lot of times, I've been in situations and scenarios that I know are dark. And I go, ‘I don't, I don't know why I'm here and why I'm doing what I'm doing. But I know it's God's will.’ And every time, I come out the other end, even stronger."
"The Firing Squad" also features another Hollywood pariah - Kevin Sorbo. The actor, known from "Hercules," has been starring only in low-budget Christian productions for several years. "Hollywood does [have them], they're doing more and more… Faith-based movies, I think, in the last 10 years, certainly, have exploded. There's more and more out there. Hollywood does them. They don't do them as many as the independent market does, but they're certainly out there […].I get stopped all the time by people. It used to be because of "Hercules" or "Andromeda." Most of the time now it's because of my [faith-based] movies… people want to see more of those movies," he said some time ago.
