Summer in the Hamptons just started, and there is already an alleged controversy involving actor Cuba Gooding Jr. at a local hotspot.
The Oscar winner has long been known as a summer regular at East End haunts — including Surf Lodge, Duryea’s Lobster Deck, Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor, Moby’s and more.
This time, sources said the star got into some sort of incident at popular music venue, Stephen Talkhouse, in Amagansett.
One source said that Gooding was there to take in some jams with his girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, when a security guard got into a tiff with the star.
An insider told us, “He was sitting on the edge of the stage, waiting for the reggae band to start.”
The band was apparently delayed and as they were setting up when one of the security guards approached the actor and demanded he get up from the stage, the source said.
“Cuba was like, ‘Take it easy.’ Security then got all power hungry and was screaming in his face,” the source claimed.
The source told us they didn’t see it, but heard “[security] picked him up to move him, and then [Cuba] left with Claudine.”
When we reached out, the club’s owner said “the incident was not as reported” but wouldn’t comment further. A rep for Gooding didn’t comment either.
Readers may recall that Gooding and DeNiro are summer regulars at the Talkhouse.
In 2021, we reported that Gooding was frequenting karaoke nights there.
The “Boyz n the Hood” star was ordered last year to complete six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling as part of a plea agreement in a forcible touching case.
Sources told us that he had then continued to avoid booze. (Indeed, Pvnew reported last October that Gooding was out with De Niro and was overheard telling a patron at a Manhattan nightclub when they offered him a drink, “No, thank you. I don’t drink anymore.”).
His criminal record was wiped clean as part of the legal agreement.
Among his various Hamptons adventures, we’ve also previously reported that Gooding once extinguished a guest who caught on fire at a Hamptons party over Labor Day weekend in 2020.
