Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: Cuba Gooding Jr. Exclusive

Episode Date: November 24, 2022

On tonight's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers speaks exclusively with Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr in his first interview since his conviction after pleading guilty to forcibly touching a woman. He wants a second chance - does he deserve one? Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8 pm on TalkTV on Sky 522, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and the app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight on Pearz Morgan Unscensored, a world-exclusive interview. He was Hollywood's Oscar-winning Golden Boy until his career collapsed in scandal. Cuba Gooding Jr. one-on-one. From London, this is Pearce Morgan Uncensored. Good evening from London. Welcome to Pierce Morgan Unsensored. Tonight, Cuba Gooding Jr. one-on-one. Cuba Gooding Jr. was Hollywood's Golden Boy, boxed off his belters like boys in the hood, and a few good men took him to the top tier of Tinseltown.

An Oscar-winning role in Jerry Maguire made him iconic, also landed in one of cinema's most iconic catchphrases. Show me to my... But the golden statue was the beginning of the Golden Boys unraveling. Anxious to protect his superstar status, he turned down role after roll rejecting Spielberg for Amistad, and Michael Mann, the collateral. He even turned down the lead in the last King of Scotland,

the role with Neddy Forrest Whitaker, the Academy's top award. And after a lost decade in the Hollywood, shadows, he lost his shine once and for all, facing a spate of allegations about inappropriate behaviour with women. This year, he confessed to charges of forcible touching two other counts of non-consensual contact, narrowly escaping jail. Now, Cuba Gooding Jr. wants a shot at redemption. Tonight, he'll make his case, and it will all be uncensored. Well, I'm joined now by Cuba Gooding, Jr. Thank you very much for coming on the show. Of course. Pierce, thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here. The last time I interviewed you was quite a few years ago now,

probably 10 or 11 years ago. The Butler. Yeah, and it was a great film, and I loved the interview, and you were with Oprah and all these others that were doing it. And your career seemed great, your life seemed in a good place, everything was good in the world of Cuba, Gooding Jr. Very different circumstances for you when we meet today. When you look back on everything that's happened to you

in the last few years, what do you feel about it? I mean, we have... We have the whole show to talk, but, you know, in 2013, separated from my wife of 20-something years, 2017, 18. My father passes away suddenly. And then, you know, it's one of those moments in my life where I was trying to numb the pain. So I would, you know, just kind of go out and, you know, just. not worry about a thing, you know, and it opened me up to a lot of interactions with people

in clubs and bars and whatnot. And, you know, it's the world knows I pled guilty for the count of forcible touching, kissed a waitress, so that's that. I'm not here to shame anybody or to, you know, take any of these women who, you know, made their statements. But it is one of those moments where I look back and I say, how did you find yourself in this scenario, in this situation? So I reflect on that day at the Bubbles Party in New York City,

sitting with my girlfriend at a booth with people coming and going. You know, I've been doing a lot of karaoke. I was on the West End stage doing Chicago the musical, and then I took it to Broadway. So I find myself with a microphone singing and entertaining crowds, and at this particular day, we had a group of people who had come up to us. Anyway, a young lady came and sat next to my girlfriend, and she said she was a huge fan of Snowdogs,

and we conversed. And then when our group left, I believe I gave her a kiss on the hand, and we left. And my girlfriend stopped her from coming, and I think that upset her or whatever. And this is all on tape, which is the funniest thing. And so you see her follow us around the club. And eventually, because I had to get on a plane, said goodbye to my group and left. and you see her look for me, go up to a security guard, make a statement to him, and then the police show, she makes a statement to them, they review the tapes.

The tapes, they review every moment that they can for the time I was there. They don't see any of the claims that she made. And then the special victims unit personnel from the DA's office shows. and they explained to this person what they saw on the tapes, and the person obviously went ahead with putting out a warrant for my arrest. So when I land in L.A., my lawyer calls me and says, you got to come back. Some woman said that you touched her breast.

And I said, when and where. So to make a long story short, you know, one of the police, police officers, somebody in the police department released the mugshot and they were fired. They released the video that showed exactly what I explained to you on the video. But I had been told that when I show up to the police station, that they'll have to drive me to the courthouse to see the judge. And there's press in the front, so they'll take me out back. So I said, fine. and we walked out back and it was the world, as you saw.

Me in handcuffs, going in the car. And that moment kind of started this snowball siren effect of the DA weaponizing the police force. And I get it. I'm, you know, at home, I'm seeing all of the news accounts. And then what I've come to find later is that the DA's office went to the people who work with the Tau group, and they said, we want all the footage of any time Cuba's ever been in your nightclubs.

And at the time, I had a friend who was a promoter, so I was at the Bubbles Party, I was at two other establishments of there, and they literally combed everything to see if they could find. any other instances of impropriety. So they found another clip where I had gestured towards a waitress as I was leaving, touched her back, went to give her a high five, she said, don't pinch my butt. That was the second indictment. And then the third one at the end of an evening with a waitress who gives me my bill, they gave her a big tip.

So she comes back, you see her, she kisses on this. cheek so I turn and I give her a kiss on the lips. So now fast forward to the pandemic where all court activity stops and for over a year, year and a half, you know, we all just reflected on where we had been. The DA had continued to ask for women to come forward with any interactions, like a siren call. 30 women came. 30 women.

One of them was in St. Louis and I think. I was there for two hours. I was, you know, the Mark McGuire hit home run 7071. I threw out the pitch. So, you know, I don't know. I think it is what it is again. And then eventually, when the courts opened, my lawyers said, listen, we could go to trial and we can, you know, show the video footage of all three instances.

They can show you partying and see. singing in your karaoke, and they can, you know, go through this stuff, or we can take this deal of you because you did kiss the girl. And I said, 100%. And they have this thing called the repleteer. So when I, and I heard you're in your opening that I pled guilty and all these things, the guilty charge was for a violation of forcible kissing.

And after six months of therapy, the judge repleted it. down to a violation. I've had violations parking. It was first harassment, yes, correct. So, yeah, here we are. Here we are. I mean, look, you've obviously, you've not done interviews, so it's all just come splurging out. I want to let you say your bit. No, I get it, because you've not spoken about this. And so you've been thinking about nothing else. And obviously, it all just comes out and is very centered on your mind. When I've looked at everything that's happened to you in totality. Yeah.

Would it be fair to say, when you look back at your behavior in that period, that you were clubbing a lot? Oh, I was a moron. Yes. I was drinking a lot. I don't do drugs. I don't do cocaine or any of that stuff. Right, but you were drinking a lot, partying a lot, and you were behaving by what

most people would consider certainly today to be inappropriate towards a lot of women. It just didn't cross your mind that your behavior was not inappropriate. It wasn't that it was my behavior was focused towards women. It was I was carefree in front of groups and crowds of people. If you see on that footage of me kissing the waitress, I also kissed male bartenders. I was high-fiving people going with bottle service. So yes, if that is inappropriate, then yeah.

I mean, some of the allegations that women made, and I want to make it clear, no charges were brought on these. Right. And I know that in Hollywood, a lot of very famous stars, they get a lot of false allegations. presuming any of these to be sure otherwise. Right. Things that led to charges.

But there seemed to just be a pattern of claims. You know, a woman in 2001, he rubbed his groin and pelvis hard against her bottom. 2003, put his hand on a woman's buttocks and squeezed it when they had a picture together. Another bar in 2006 bit a woman on her shoulder twice and thrust his pelvis against her. Another woman in the hard rock in Las Vegas, 2007. Licked her, licked her face, grabbed her, bottom and so on. I'm going to go through them all. As I say, I don't know the veracity of each individual claim, but there were a lot of women who came forward who all made claims that

you just behaved in a way that was inappropriate and bordering on a form of assault. Now, I'm not here to relitigate what's happened to you. You pled guilty and you've been dealt with and you apologize for your conduct to any women that you'd offend. 100%. 100%. I own that. Right. So to all these women, without wanting to go over each individual thing, to every woman who's made a claim like this against you for just inappropriate touching of some description, what is your message to them? Well, it's like I said in court. I don't want anybody to feel that they've been treated inappropriately or harassed by me in any way.

I love my fans. I love men and women, all of my fans. You know, I look back on my life, okay? And I spoke about this when I did Boys in the Hood. We were homeless for a while in Orange County, living in a car. And my mom found a women's abuse shelter for us to find refuge in. And the rules in Santa Ana, California. And the rules of the shelter is that you can only stay there for not more than 48 hours before you're transferred to the next facility.

And at the time I was around 14, 15 years old, and I remember these women coming in, and the conductor of the facility said, you have to go in your room, because they didn't want any male presence when they came to the living room area of this house. And to think that women would think that I would cause that heartache to them is devastating to me.

And I saw the effects, the trauma that these women, had went through. So I take that very, very seriously. And I look at a lot of these things to me as, you know, it's just, it's a time for growth and reflection. Still to come more from my exclusive interview with Cuba Gooding Jr. Despite the harm to me, Cuba Gooding Jr. walks away from the court of free man without a record. It's like it never happened. Truth. Truth, peers. This video footage of it, there was no contact with her breast. That's the truth. Are you ashamed of your baby in that period?

I think, yeah. And some of those, the boisterous thing, the thing about me, too, is a lot of people when they, when they meet me and they come to know my energy. They always think, oh, he's got to be on some drug. It's too much energy. Well, look, I mean, the role you won the Oscar for in Jerry McGuire is one of the all-time great roles, one of my favorite characters ever. you know, in that movie. But people would look at this and say, well, that's not an excuse for the kind of behavior that you were accused of doing, and indeed that you've omitted to doing,

that you may have had tough stuff in your life, you may have had a tough moment when you split from your wife, your father done, all these things, of course. They're hard things which people go through in life. But it doesn't turn most people into what you became for that period. So what do you say to that? The answer to that is, you know,

You have to live in your truth. And I know in my truth, I didn't mean to disrespect anyone. And I know in my truth, and again, on the videos, you look at the video. I have a problem with the phrase, my truth. I'll be honest with you. I've always had a problem with the phrase, my truth. Because to me, as a journalist, there's the truth. You're right.

The facts. When people start talking about my truth, it sounds a bit like Mega Markle with Oprah Winfrey. It gives you a license to say what you want. Because it's what you feel. 100%. And I totally agree. And I know your situation with Mega Marker. know that whole thing.

So let's take the word, my out. There's video footage of the interactions with these women that showed the truth of what happened. And it's funny. So I had so many people come up to me in the street and say, I support you, I saw the video, blah, blah, blah. But the one thing that I found that really hit me. And I said, OK, now it's time for me to mention

this to talk about it. I mean, it's like, it's basically I started in this career loved and people like, oh, it's energy. Nothing's changed with me. But I do have to address it for what you just said about my. It's not my truth. It is the truth. But this one woman commented on my social media platform, she says,

thank you for pleading guilty. I may be wrong, but I think you are the first in these sort of cases to do so. That is a courageous move of integrity. I keep hoping some man with influence will demonstrate for others how to stand in accountability, make amends, learn and continue to be held. in love. Truth and reconciliation begins with truth. So thank you. I hope you are weathering the storm okay. Keep standing tall and hope you will be a frontrunner of change. And not only that, everything appears I pray and my mom taught me this when I was young. Everything happens in God's will

if you pray it because if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, God will take you to the next room. But what would you say, for example, to Kelsey Habit, now she was the woman who says that you fondled her breast at the Magic Hour rooftop in New York in 2019. You weren't charged over the incident, a decision that outraged her. She said that she was robbed of justice, and she said this. The one thing I was promised in the end

was an apology in court for what he did to me and for the opportunity to tell my side in a victim impact statement since I wouldn't get my day in court. When it came time to make that apology, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s exact words were, I'm sorry if I made anyone feel inappropriately touched. I didn't just feel inappropriately touched.

I was inappropriately touched. Because of what he did, I have to worry about a guy's intentions when he talks to me on the bus. I have to worry about where a guy's hands are when he squeezes past me in the supermarket. I have to be worried about riding in the elevator alone with a man because there's nothing shielding me from something going wrong.

Despite the harm to me, Kuba Gooding Jr. walks away from the court of free man without a record. It's like it never happened. But can the same thing be said for the women he did this too? Is it like it never happened to me? So the first thing I'll say is what I already did, and I apologize to all my fans, but the second thing is truth. Truth, peers, there's video footage of it. There was no contact with her breast. That's the truth. The other impact statement of the other girl, if you're going to

read that, she said, oh, the video footage didn't show him pinching my butt that was later. That's not true. That's not true. So I suppose, look, I suppose the point I would make to you, given that you've admitted to a criminal offense, right? We just have to put. that on the table, you did. Like I say, there were myriad stories that came forward. And who knows where the truth lies, because they weren't all put through a court process. But given your admission, do you understand that parking that specific case to one side, and maybe many of the others, but do you accept that this was perhaps the unintended consequence of your behaviour, which you never really factored in, that actually what may seem just like casual fun in a classroom, in a

club actually can have real-time effects on people. And again, I have to say to your peers, if you see the video footage, which is there and evident, and if there was inappropriate other than the kiss to the waitress, I wouldn't have been able to take the deal. Well, take the kiss to the waitress, which you're clearly guilty to, right? That was forcibly touching somebody against their will. She kissed me on my cheek, and I grabbed her and kissed her on the lip, 100%. So on that.

Now, here's the thing. And I just want to be, because you said my truth, well, do. Let that go. I got attacked for that. I won't say that again. But the truth of me and the waitress is what I pled guilty to. The other charges didn't happen. Or I would have pled guilty to them. That's the truth. I hope you understand that. I know. I understand that completely. I'm really talking about, it seems to me what you're saying is that for a number of reasons in your life, you started drinking heavily, partying heavily, perhaps losing your way a bit. And that in that in that, in that, in that, period, there may be a lot of interaction with women. You didn't intend to be harmful. I totally know. But that actually, for a lot of them, it seems they did feel harmed by it. And I wouldn't want anybody to feel that I was inappropriate anyway.

And like I told you, being home for two years, staring at yourself going, how'd you put yourself in this situation? What were you feeling when you were going through that period? I mean... Sitting on your own, you're Cuba Gooding Jr., you're a globally famous man. You've been in some of the greatest movies ever made. You were a Hollywood superstar with everything that goes with it. And then suddenly you're there. You're sitting there in a pandemic.

You're locked down. You're locked down with your thoughts about your own behavior and the kind of person you are. What did you deduce about where you got to in life? Well, I was, like everybody else, the only communications that anyone had with me was through my lawyers and headlines that certain media outlets would love to splash.

and the things that were said. And it's so funny, it's like I look at, I look at when a lawyer speaks on your behalf, they never say, that attorney said this or that. They only say Cuba Gooding Jr. says her breasts were too small. Cuba Gooding Jr. did this or that. And it was horrifying. It was horrifying because your words are not your words.

There's someone else's, and then that becomes the headline. Whether it's true or not, that's what people see and that's what people believe. So that period was one of those times where I just had to, you know, like everyone else, I had to sit there and reflect on it and hopefully. Was it a very emotional time for you? Oh, 100%. 100%.

It's, you know, I mean, it's... I mean, you must have felt like you'd lost everything, right? Yeah. Well, more than that, it was like you don't want to let down those who have supported you and brought you where you're at. And my family, my friends who are responsible for the success that I have today, yeah, you feel a guilt. You feel a guilt and you get through that and you work on ways to improve yourself.

Have you changed yourselves? 100%. In what way? It's one of those things now. And it's funny, too, because I don't want this to stop me connecting with my fans. I don't want this to stop me connecting with the gregarious behavior. in terms of the positive energy that I have. So I just, you know, I'm 10 times more aware

of what's going on around me, and I just use that as my focus. You've got three children, including a teenage daughter. Yes, but Mason, happy birthday. Oh, it's a birth? 14, his birthday, yes. Oh, Mason, he's just... My new and improved model, yes, Mason.

Your daughter's 17, I think, is that right? Yeah. I've got a daughter as well, 11. When you have a teenage daughter, in particular, I would think, this kind of scandal must hit particularly hard at home. What kind of conversations if you had to hand with her? It's one of those things where you have to allow every experience in your life. It's almost like, I can't take the positive, the Oscars and the fame, and ignore the negative. It's all encompassing of where I am today and who I am today. And it's, you know, it's one of those things where she has to find her own truth in her moments,

and I have to be supportive of whatever may come. Is she forgiven you for it? You know, it's one of the conversations that I haven't really had about her, because I think she's shown me so much love. You know, it's like on my phones, I have two images of my mom and my, my, my, my, daughter and it's one of those things where they they remind me of how the source of my strength which is family and God and that's it who were the most important members of your family to you all of them who when you think about your behavior and who you answer to if you know the females in your life of course your mother your daughter your sister my cousin what's been your mother's

reaction to you know again she's been really supportive She's been there through a lot of these scandalous headlines, which, again, I have no control over. And it's one of those moments where you just say, you know, your reactions affect everybody around you. Well, next slide, Cuba Gooding Jr. reveals which of his famous friends are stuck by him and the ones who haven't.

So go from winning an Oscar to having a walk around Hollywood, wherever it may be, with a sex scandal erupting around your image, if you like. What's that experience like? You know, it's, and again, it's like it's just one of those aspects of being someone in the spotlight. You can't stand on stage with an award over your head

and accept that, but not accept this. And it's just, it's just, it is what it is. It's the business that we're in. Particularly for someone like you, who's got such a, you know, your normal personality is so bursting with energy and positivity. You're very light the character you played in, Gary McGuire from my experience of interviewing you.

This is, this must have dented a lot of that self-confidence you had, the swagger. No, no. No, I'm still killing it. Still killing the game. But seriously. Seriously. I mean, it's. Hasn't dented your confidence at all?

To me, I am who I am. I know God's reason why I'm here. I've been given certain gifts and insights. And it's funny because you in the media love to speak. of the scandal and talk about it and oh no. And my thing is, my interactions with the people, you know, we have this, and we have talked about this company, view at VEUIT.com, which is like the, I think,

the answer to a lot of situations that we're dealing in society. But one of our NFT projects, so to speak, is this thing called Cuba Goodness, which is, I've probably taken 10,000 selfies with people around the world. And we're putting out a call for them to send us any selfie I've ever taken and in turn receive a piece of this NFT. So to me, it's like you are who you are, as long as you own who you are.

And if you feel like you've done a disservice, you have to grow from it and not repeat it. The stuff that you play guilty to is, you know, on the general scale of crime, Most people would not see that as particularly heinous, albeit it was wrong and inappropriate, and you've paid the price for it. But you are facing potentially far more serious allegations.

The Hollywood lawyer, Gloria Allred, represents an alleged rape victim, so she's going to proceed with an ongoing $6 million civil lawsuit because justice wasn't achieved when you've got your no-jail plea deal. What's your response to that? You know, like I said to you. All of these women came, they made their statements. Everybody has their right to speak. What they perceive is their right to speak about.

And like you just said, if it's a lawsuit... Do you think it should all be settled in court? I'm sorry? Well, I give you a parallel. So Prince Andrew, over here, for example, kept saying, I'm going to clear my name, clear my name, clear my name. And at the last minute, he settled with an accuser, gave her millions and millions of dollars.

And people have drawn their own conclusions from that, notwithstanding, he made no admission of liability. Right. In your case, you did make an admission of criminal activity, and you were convicted on that basis. And as that person sent you that note, in a way that is laudable to admit what you did and then to try and reshape your life

and to seek, I guess, some form of redemption, which is where you are now, there'll be people watching this, and some might say he should never be forgiven, right? It's disgusting behavior, and even if there'll be others who say actually on balance for what he was found guilty of, what he admitted, he should be given a second chance.

We're in a weird time in the world. Yeah. This cancelled culture, you know, atmosphere where people are very unforgiving, aren't they? They're very quick to destroy people. They don't want to ever give them a chance to come back. Right. What do you say to those people about why you should be given a second chance?

You know, you just said it. I don't have to say it. People will think one thing or they'll think another. I'm not here to convince them what they think. I can just present myself as who I am. On the wider issue of council culture, what do you make of it? What do you think of it as a part of modern society?

Yeah. Back in the days of the star system, they used to have departments, heads of every studio, that just dealt with the image. of the celebrity. And it was to make sure that you saw them with their kids and in the park and the studio focused on it. And at some point, when the system broke down,

that department changed from that to the reality of scandal. And then it became fun, the housewives of, you know, fill in the city. And this divorce and this scandalous, you know, behavior from the celebrity, and that became the business of life. Hollywood. And now you have the regurgitation of that into

this movement that's not unlike the McCarthy era where now they're like, if you say or do anything, oh yeah, no, he's canceled, we move on. There's no revisiting. How has Hollywood responded to what's happened to you? Particularly since you made your

admission. So when you pled guilty, what's been the reaction since? Has Hollywood shunned you? Are there all the doors shut? Are some open again? How has it viewed what It's been a little bit of everything. It's been a little bit of everything, Pierce. And the thing with me is, you know, it's funny.

It's like going back to the media and the headlines. I did this charity event for children cancer, pediatric cancer. And they asked me to sing with the band. And so they gave me a mic. I went on stage. And we did this song. We raised almost a million dollars that night. And yet the headline says, Cuba jumps up on stage and starts singing.

and start singing, you know, Hey Jude, which is not the song I sing. I sang, come together at a Beatles. But that was one of those things where I get it. The narrative fits for me to be this ogre. But it still doesn't change, not my truth, the truth of who I am. Right. Your girlfriend, Claudine, she stood by you.

Yeah. Throughout orders. Yeah, she was there. She was sitting in between us. Right. So what does she make? On my arm the whole time. What does she make of it?

She thinks it's ridiculous. She absolutely does. But I don't want to speak for anybody else but me because that's who I'm here. Your girlfriend has been around you when some of these allegations have been made and she stood by you. Is that because she believes you're a completely innocent man about all these things? Or does she just understand you and think that part of your shtick is you're very tactile of people? I think she supports me because she loves me. And I think that she obviously knows the truth about what happened that day.

And she's, you know, she's just a great lady. You're going to marry her? No, no, no. I've been there done that. I know I shouldn't say it like that. Take you for life. You never. You never know.

But no, I've, right now I got enough taking care of me. And like I say, Piper goes to college in a very short time. I want to make sure she has as much support as she has and attention she needs for me. But it's hard, isn't it, for anyone in the public eye when this happens with kids? Oh, 100%. And what do you say to your sons about it? You know, my sons and I talk ad nauseum about everything. Like I say, Mason turns 26 today.

Spencer's 28. You have a Spencer? I have a Spencer. Yeah, Spencer James Gooding. Yeah. Warriors. Warriors. But we talk about everything, not just this, everything.

and it's because it's my job to really, and I mean this, make them my new and improved models. And that's what I'm focused on. Do you teach them to learn from your mistakes? 100%. You have to. If you don't learn from your mistake, you're going to repeat it, you know? And it's been my focus now to move my life ahead

in a way that not only helps me, but helps others around me. How have all your famous friends reacted to this? Have they stood by you? Have any not stood by you? Has it been a bit of both? It's that thing where the ones that stood by you, they communicate with you and the ones that don't, you don't hear from them.

So it's just, I'd have to assume the ones I don't hear from don't stand by me. Or I can say they're standing by me in quiet solidarity. Are there any that have really disappointed you with their... I won't do that, but I'll tell you about the love I've seen. Well, I'm asking you to name people. No, no, but I like to name people, but I don't want to do it in a negative way, like 50 cent. Yes. He reached out to me and he said, listen, your talent is what it is, and let's do something.

Let's roll. Let's make a show together. I love that. That must mean a lot when people do that. It's the best. One thing you haven't mentioned to me is acting. I mean, do you want to act again? All right.

Well, you want to go to that part of the conversation? I have a couple of roles that I, um... That you signed up for? That I've shot. I did this movie. Well, we'll start with this series first because I always laugh when I see this photo. but I play the head of the CIA at 65. Right?

I know. I know. I know I'm aging. Who's that for? This is for a show called Paper Empire. And then I play... Who's making that? It's Robert Gillings.

He's wrote and produced it, and I think they're shopping it around now. But hopefully when we get... Because we launch, View it in January. So we will probably have them on the platform. I'm not I was you know obviously go back to Jerry Maguire Tom Cruise has just made one of the biggest movies of all time with him Tom was great maverick it was great have you heard from him in recent years still to come does Cuba Gooding Jr keep in touch with his Oscar winning co-star Tom Cruise I'll find out obviously go back to Jerry Maguire Tom Cruise has just made all the biggest movies of all time

yeah it was great Tom Gunn Maverick it was great have you heard from him in recent years no not in a while nothing What'd you say? Would you like to have done? You know, it is what it is. I get it. Listen. Do you get it, though?

I don't think I would get it in that position. I have to get it. You know why? Because, like I said, God's will works in my life, good and bad, and I have to accept to both. There's this show that we're doing. You know, I've had some difficult stuff in my life over time. And I can remember every single person that put their hand up for me.

And I can remember even more everyone that disenfranchis. a beard or you just didn't hear from. And you'll so inextricably linked to someone like Tom Cruise from that movie. You want an Oscar for that movie, working with him. You think he could have least maybe just called? I was also explicitly linked to Cameron Crowe. I was linked to James L. Brooks.

But I'm also linked to people that I'm working with now. No, I get it. But do you get it because it's like I get it? You want to know the dirt about it. But to me... No, no. I'm genuinely, I'm not after any dirt. But here's the thing...

Your response when I mentioned Tom Cruise's name, actually it looked to me like you were a bit hurt you hadn't heard from him. It's the thing where anyone that shows you support is somebody that you're going to gravitate towards. The people in my life now... What do you feel about those who don't? The people that are in my...

Watch yourself. The people in my life now, Joe Callahan, who created this technology for Viewett, Danny Rodriguez, who's a crypto... to the endth degree, created the show for me called Tycoon that we're going into production in January. Did Oprah reach out to? Oh, no, no. Really?

No, that's two. That's two. I can't wait to hear number three. I mean, Oprah you did the battle with. I've done a few projects with her. Not heard a word. It's one of those things, Pierce, where I got to be honest. I'm really not after you.

I'm not after anything at all from you about it. I just suddenly thought with the two people I know. Because I interviewed you around the time of the butler. I know how big Oprah was and supportive at the time when things were good. Same at Tom Cruise. It's interesting to me these two superstars when someone is really going through the worst time of their life. Can't even pick a phone out. But is it the worst time of my life, really?

I mean, think about it. It was one of those times that you get through. I think my father's death was probably a little bit harder. Right. So it's now I can't sit and dwell on that. I got to move forward with the positive. I have to. It's my life. Where'd you keep your Oscar? You want to...

No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Where do you keep it? I have it in storage. I told you. I moved... Yeah, I moved from L.A. to the East Coast, and now I've just been traveling with the Vuit team. When you think about that moment, I assume that was a career high for you, winning the Oscar. Yeah. And I remember the moment, I loved the movie, and it was just a great moment of joy for you. And joy for your family, joy for everyone that knew you.

And I imagine in the moment when you win an Oscar, everyone gravitates to you. You become like a magnet to people. And that's why I'm just curious about the flip side. Yeah, but you just said it. You just said it. Everybody comes like a magnet to you. A magnet. Everywhere I go and I want it.

I still want it. I am. I will not ever let negativity stop the God-given energy that I have than I've had at the beginning of my career. And that's the simple truth, Pierce. There's nothing else. And I know the projects that I'm working on, which I've explained to you. I know that you... Not just the acting, but the new...

No, I understand the other business stuff, but the acting thing in particular, because acting is your real passion. Acting is what you're great in doing, right? You know what my real passion is, to be honest with you? I directed a movie. Right. I mean, I'd rather direct an act. Would you?

A hundred percent. Because, one, you get this village of people who all are there to support your vision. and if your vision is something that they all believe in, they'll do whatever it takes to get that vision made. And, you know, I've been writing. I have a writing partner now. Todd Machino and I have been working on several not only features but limited series and whatnot.

And we're excited about it to get back in the directing chair and in front of the screens. What have you found out about yourself throughout this whole five-year process? Good and bad. Yeah. That I can be a bit much. My energy can be a bit much for people.

And anyone can say anything in this, like you said, this climate. So you have to be more aware. You have to be more cognizant of not only what you say you do in your actions. And I believe that. What have you discovered about yourself you didn't like that you've changed? You know, the partying was, you know, it's a bit much. I mean, it's one of those things where you want to numb that. My mom told me a long time ago, don't numb the pain, feel the pain.

But when there was so much of it, I had to numb it, and it felt good. So when you continually to do that, you forget to feel life again. Has your ex-wife been supported to you? Oh, 100%. Everybody in my camp has stood by me to get through this moment in time. And now it's my job to make sure that my personal new and improved model helps those. Some people say that when, you know, I've spoken to people who have been to prison. Yeah.

I mean, did you have a fear at one stage that might happen to you? No, no. I mean, if you look at any of these allegations, they're misdemeanors. And it was one of those things. But to be guilty, I'm assuming that your legal advice would have been, look, don't take a risk that you might get imprisoned. Take a plea deal. And that's normally why you do it.

And all of the headlines was like, he avoids jail, it avoids jail, it points jail, and it was like, it was not my frame of mind to avoid jail. My frame of mind was to admit guilt to the truth of what happened. Right, right. I mean, but if you hadn't admitted it, you could have faced jail, right? If I hadn't admitted it, I would have taken all of those women to trial and they would have had to live this bile that I lived.

they would have had to live again. And from that moment, I was in that woman-abused shelter. I said, never do that to a woman. I would never put a woman through that. And that's why I'm here. I mean, you did put at least one woman through that because you admitted it. A hundred percent.

You put her through something that she really... A hundred percent. ...was very offended by. I agree. Have you ever reached out to her? Have you ever written to her? I mean, I spoke to her and everyone there in that courtroom. I gave my apology.

And it was sincere? Yeah, I think so. You know, it's one of those things in life where you have to focus on the positive but not ignore who you are and where you've come from. You know, it's, but do you live in the past? Well, I was going to say to you...

Or do you have fear for the future? In the moment, you live. I'm only cutting you off because you cut me up. See, it goes a two-way street. I don't want to cut you off. You know what I'm saying? No, fair enough. You've seen me go off.

Actually, you triggered a thought process in me, which I should have let you finish. But the point I was going to make was on that point. I know people who've been to prison and stuff. Yeah. And they almost always say that the worst moment to them was the kind of moment of exposure of what they were accused of doing. But actually, everything after that was easy to deal with,

including going to prison, actually. There's a kind of moment of reckoning when you know you can see what's going to happen to you. Right. And that's the abyss moment. And you come out of it slowly but surely. Yeah. Are you on that trajectory? having omitted what you did and taken your punishment,

do you feel now you're on a trajectory out of this? Because, I mean, only last week you had another case where you had to pay $80,000 to a former bartender who said that you groped it in a Manhattan nightclub. That was because you didn't turn up to avenge herself. I didn't. I could have went and said, look at the video and put her through that again, and I just figured.

But why wouldn't you do that to clear your name? Because I... It's such a stain to have on your record, right? And you know that. Listen, you right now have already made this theme of this cancel culture that we're in right now. And the only way for me to reconcile that is to be honest and truthful with who I am. Right. And then let you decide where you stand on my situation.

And that's all I can do, Pierce. But would you rather pay 80,000 to not turn up at something to defend yourself? Or get in there and defend yourself? Well, the logistics of that also was the fact that, as you know, and other people who went and testified and did depositions for civil cases that is used against you in a criminal case. So it wasn't anything I was going to,

like you said, the jail thing, push and prod the DA to focus on that. So it was one of those things where I was like, it's better to just letting it. So you have thought about the possibility of jail? Yeah, in that instance, 100%. You're absolutely. When you've had to think about that, how has that made you feel?

It's one of those things where that's the path, and that's the path I'm on. But that would have been, I mean, a real Nadia for your life, wouldn't it? I mean, this is from winning an Oscar to a prison cell. Yeah, yeah, I get it. When you thought about that, tell me about that feeling. I never thought about that. Really?

A hundred percent. You just basically said you did. No, no, I said the technicality, because remember, you talk to lawyers, and they say, here's the repercussions. Of course, of course. But it isn't the thing I left the meeting, and I went, oh, wow, well, no, I just. I just don't allow myself. Those are insecurities and thoughts of darkness.

I don't let darkness, my producing partner that I talk all the time, you stay focused on the positivity because it is what it is. So you're going to choose your path out. Where do you hope to be in like 10 years' time? Would you like to have made another movie, for example? I would like to have, yeah, I've done a lot of things, you know, that I keep kind of nibbling into explain to you. But it's, yeah, I'd like to just.

continue growth, period. I'd like to see my kids grow and become successful. And if Tom Cruise and Oprah are watching this interview? See, you narrowed it down to those two. Well, only because they all of my co-stars I love from them to Sarah Paulson, to anyone I've ever worked with. But just for their benefit, you haven't changed your number? Oh, 100%.

I never have. Never will. So they know how to get hold of you? A hundred percent. Would you like them to? I like everybody to get a hold of me. It would mean a lot to you. We can get your own narrative.

I'm just asking you. I'm not going to cry, Roy. No, but it's a big deal. I know it's a big deal when people support or don't support you. Yeah, yeah. It means something to you. Yeah. I have to stand ready to support those I love.

Even if that means that I feel that I didn't feel the support from them, I still, I'm here. Not going anywhere. But you wouldn't mind if they called you. Yeah, that'd be. phenomenal. Cuba, thank you very much indeed. Of course. Thank you. Well, that's all from me tonight on Piers Morgan unscensor. Remember, whatever you're up to, keep it uncensored. Good night.