This May 25, 2012 file photo shows actor Cuba Gooding Jr arriving for the screening of “Cosmopolis” at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France. New Orleans police say an arrest warrant has been issued on a municipal battery charge for actor Cuba Gooding after an incident Tuesday, July 31, at a New Orleans bar. Gooding was in New Orleans filming. AP FILE PHOTO/JOEL RYAN
CHICAGO—Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr was hit with an arrest warrant Tuesday after he allegedly pushed a female bartender twice during a late-night dispute at a bar in New Orleans, police said.
The bartender told police that Gooding arrived at the Bourbon Street bar around three in the morning with a group of people.
Customers soon recognized the “Jerry McGuire” star and started asking him to pose for pictures with them.
“The bartender said Gooding soon became very aggravated with them,” police said in a statement.
The bartender said she approached Gooding and asked him to calm down, at which point he “allegedly pushed her away with an open hand.”
A coworker called police and the bartender told Gooding that he needed to leave.
“Gooding then allegedly pushed her again, and left the bar,” police said, adding that he is wanted for “municipal battery.”
A spokesperson for Gooding was not immediately available for comment.
Gooding won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role as an arrogant football player — whose line “Show me the money!” became a catchphrase — in the 1996 hit “Jerry McGuire” which starred Tom Cruise.
He has also played supporting roles in hits like “Pearl Harbor,” “A Few Good Men,” and “Gladiator” and had a lead role in the Spike Lee film “Boyz in the Hood.”
In recent years his films have not had a great deal of commercial success and most have gone straight to DVD without a wide release in theaters.