A bartender at a Manhattan nightclub says that actor Cuba Gooding Jr. “pinched” her butt and said he would never come back to the bar after she repeatedly rebuffed his advances, according to a new lawsuit.
Gooding — who has been accused by at least 14 women of inappropriately touching them — was sued in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday by Natasha Ashworth, who claims while she was waiting on Gooding at Tao Downtown Nightclub on Oct. 24 last year, he repeatedly tried to grope her butt.
The “Jerry Maguire” star — who pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor counts of sex abuse and forcible touching — allegedly first said to her, “Do you want to see my impression of a penis?” Ashworth responded no, but that didn’t stop Gooding from doing the impression anyway, by taking a sip of water and then “spitting liquid out of his mouth,” according to court papers filed Monday.
Then, at the end of her shift around 4:20 a.m., “[Gooding] approached Plaintiff and using his right hand reached to pinch Plaintiff on her right buttocks,” the court documents charge.
Ashworth told him, “Don’t touch my butt” and he answered, “Aw, that’s no fun,” tapping her on the arm. He added, “And I didn’t, I touched your back,” the filing says.
Gooding allegedly tried to grip her twice more but she managed to deflect, her suit alleges. A club promoter then booted Gooding from the Chelsea club, the suit claims.
Gooding “pushed the promoter out of his way and approached a manager,” who was standing by Ashworth where he tried again to grab her, the court papers allege.
Finally, he said to Ashworth, “Oh, you don’t have to worry, because I am never coming back here again,” the court documents charge.
Gooding’s lawyer, Mark Heller, told The Post that Ashworth is the second victim to press criminal charges against him anonymously — and since her suit has now revealed her identity, “we can only assume she is looking for notoriety.”
Heller added, “It is rumored she is an aspiring actress. We welcome this baseless civil claim as a validation that the inspiration for her criminal accusation and this civil complaint is a money grab from Cuba, who previously declined to be shaken down by this individual.”
Heller said Ashworth only came forward with her criminal charges a year after the fact.
The lawyer added that surveillance video “clearly and unequivocally demonstrates that Mr. Gooding committed no criminal act and certainly did not pinch her butt.”
A woman in Los Angeles also accused the actor of grabbing her butt at a party. Prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence to bring a case. Heller said at the time that Gooding didn’t remember the alleged incident.
Ashworth is suing for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress and demanding a jury trial. Her lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.