Source: Jonny Birch / Getty / Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is finally addressing those eyebrow-raising allegations of sexual assault by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Smith.
Page Six reports that Cuba Gooding Jr. revealed he was stunned to learn that his name was pulled in the whirlwind of accusations currently swirling around Diddy, aka The Diddler.
The actor’s name was part of Lil Rod’s lawsuit, which he filed against the Bad Boy general in February. In it, he claimed that while he attended one of Diddy’s infamous parties, he was drugged and raped, and touched inappropriately by the music mogul, all claims Diddy has denied.
The producer who worked on Diddy’s latest album also claimed that Gooding Jr. groped him, and now the Hollywood actor is responding to those allegations, claiming Jones is looking for money and that he is an easy target because of past claims made against him.
Per Page Six:
In a new interview with Patrick Bet-David’s “The PBD Podcast,” Gooding revealed he was shocked to learn that he was named in Smith’s lawsuit against Combs.
“That’s the craziest thing,” he said. “I wake up in the morning. I turn on the ‘Today’ show [and hear] ‘Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. …’ Excuse me! You pull me into this?”
In fact, Gooding claims he’s only hung out with Diddy “two or three times,” including New Year’s Eve, when he listened to music on Diddy’s yacht with Smith.
“That was it, but this guy who’s suing him, is going after the money … I’m sure,” Gooding said. “And by the way, I don’t know P. Diddy’s life. I don’t know what he’s going through.
“We were acquaintances,” he insisted.
He said they first met in 2019 or 2020, when Gooding’s girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, introduced him to Diddy.
Gooding says he thinks Smith only dropped his name because of “the cases I’ve already went through.”
The Jerry Maguire star pleaded guilty to a forcible touching misdemeanor charge in 2022 for locking lips with a woman at a nightclub in 2018 without her consent.
As for Diddy, he’s been on the quiet front but most recently posted a video of himself on Instagram doing things like praying and standing on a beach with the wind whipping, insinuating that he is enduring the storm with one of Bishop T.D. Jakes’ sermons serving as the soundtrack.