Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie The Pooh, accused of rape and animal abuse by ex-wife
Voice actor Jim Cummings, known for playing the roles of several iconic Disney characters like Tigger, Mickey Mouse villain, Pete, and Winnie the Pooh, is currently in a nasty war with his ex-wife, who has recently come out with claims of years of abuse by the actor, ranging from sexual assault, to drug addiction and even animal abuse.
Married in 2001, Jim and his now ex-wife, Stephanie Cummings, were divorced a decade later, in 2011. The former couple shares two minor daughters, Johanna and Lulu, but more recently they have been busy arguing in an L.A. County courtroom, over alleged incidents Stephanie claims transpired between 2011 and 2018 after their marriage fell apart.
In documents obtained by The Blast, Stephanie claims that ever since her divorce from the actor, he “has engaged in physical, sexual and emotional abuse including but not limited to death threats, rape, and various sexual deviant behavior forced upon me without my consent.” She also notes that Jim is a “very successful voice over actor. He has provided voices for such films as ‘Winnie the Pooh’, ‘Lion King,'” and adds that “he has done over 250 voices.”
In one of her recounts of the abuse endured from the actor, Stephanie cited an incident from August 31, 2011, where Jim "came up behind me, grabbed my arm, spun me around, and forcefully put his hand on the back of my neck and kissed me while holding me in place against the wall.” She also added that after the forced kiss, the actor asked her if she could “see him leaking, because that’s what I make him do when he touches me.”
Stephanie claims she felt “humiliated and degraded” especially since all of that happened in front of their then four-year-old daughter. Following the incident, Stephanie had allegedly reported the incident to the L.A. County Sheriff and was advised to get a domestic violence restraining order.
According to official documents, Jim did not dispute the incident but claimed that's not how he remembered things had gone down. The Disney star said he was “joking and laughing” with Stephanie, and then “I touched her slightly on the butt.” According to him, Stephanie said “the whole incident was happy and also added that his ex-wife, “who is much taller than I am, and a large woman, made no objection to anything.”
According to records, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has investigated the case and have also been in touch with the couple.
In another incident from 2013, Stephanie claims Jim raped her, for which she had also allegedly filed a police report at the time. Stephanie also noted in an open court testimony that following the rape, she had had to enter rehab for "co-dependency", and Jim had shown up there unannounced, before being asked to leave.
Stephanie also stated that Jim would frequently “without consent, would touch my buttocks, my groin, and my breasts. He would hold me in place attempting to kiss and fondle me. He would spank me in front of our daughters. He would then follow up by making sexual comments to me that I found repugnant.” The one that she particularly detested was a remark made by the actor, where he claimed in front of their daughters that he was allowed to “touch Mommy’s breasts since he had paid for them.”
Jim addressed the situation in documents and wrote an email to Stephanie in response to the allegations, saying: “Shame on you, you’re [sic] distortions are obscene. ‘forcing’? Please, everyone, Gracie myself and especially YOU were all giggling and laughing, it was pleasant to have one moment of light-heartedness. We both erupted into laughter…I’m hardly the first person in the world to point out one ‘catches more flys [sic] with honey than vinegar’ for you to overlay a reference to being a w**re is little too telling, Let’s get this over with for the love of God.”
As the former couple continues to fight for custody and support payments, Stephanie claimed in legal documents that Jim would withhold payments and “demand sex from me in exchange for meeting his support obligations.” She also claimed that back in 2015, Jim showed up at her home and confronted her while she was on a date with an off-duty police officer, who was then forced to pull out his gun to make Jim leave.
Stephanie also states the constant harassment from her ex-husband caused a decline in her health, which lead to her moving to Utah with their two daughters, in 2017. During one of his visits to see the kids, Stephanie recounted that Jim had asked to stay the night and she had allowed it.
Following that, in the middle of the night, she claimed Jim was “standing over me with his erect penis in my hand. He was using my hand to stroke his penis while my youngest daughter was asleep on the other side of me. She was 10 years old at the time.”
Stephanie explained, “I told him to stop and get out of the house. He refused. He then came back and did the same thing, insisting I masturbate him or he would wake Lulu up. I did as he asked given his threat to wake up my daughter and my worry that I could not control what he would do in front of her.”
After that incident, Stephanie obtained a second restraining order against the voice actor, which was filed in Utah in 2018. After both testified in court, the order was issued against Jim for two years.
But in her recount of why they separated, Stephanie said in court documents that “The primary reason James and I separated was his abuse of alcohol, marijuana, and Adderall.” According to her, Jim's longstanding history of drug abuse includes several stints in the rehab, as early as 2005 and again on June 10, 2010, when he checked out after four days before relapsing and returning to the facility.
She also said it had been only five days of him staying there when he got “kicked out because he was using Adderall.” Following their split, between 2012 and 2018, Jim has also shown up at her home "uninvited while intoxicated or high on Adderall," she claimed.
Jim denied the allegations saying, “I entered that rehab facility voluntarily. However, Petitioner’s claim that it was a binge on alcohol, marijuana and Adderall is another exaggeration as I have never taken Adderall… Petitioner, however, has had a long-standing [sic] history of drug abuse. On the day that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Petitioner and I mutually agreed to check into a rehabilitation facility.” He claims the substance abuse consisted of “primarily Vicodin as well as alcohol.”
In Stephanie's argument to get custody of the children she also cited Jim's animal abuse, saying he had once abused the family puppy to such extremes, it almost died. The couple had purchased a dog which had urinated in the house, following which Stephanie said Jim “took the dog and placed it inside a metal bucket outside of the house on a day which it was over 100 degrees, then left it there for a long time,” adding, “the dog came close to dying.”
In his response, Jim said “There was an incident where I put a ‘tub’ (not a metal bucket) over a dog to isolate it briefly as a form of discipline to its behavior at our vet’s suggestion, and unfortunately I forgot the dog was there for a while, but then of course I released it.” Jim also claimed when he took the dog to the vet, it was in fine health, but Stephanie cited another incident where Jim had "taken a broom and hit the puppy so hard that he shattered the puppy’s hip necessitating surgery.”
As for their ongoing custody battle, Jim claimed he has tried talking “amicably” with his ex-wife but “She will have outbursts of hostility directed at me, and often change in her behavior and attitude comes without warning.” Alleging she may have a mental health disorder for which she's taking medication, Jim expressed worry about his future with Disney.
He claimed Stephanie threatened to ruin his career as she said “I will go and I will ruin your reputation … I am going to tell people Winnie the Pooh is a woman beating, drug addicted freak!” According to him, Stephanie's outburst arrived after he refused to take her to the premiere of the Disney movie 'Christopher Robin' in 2018.
In her testimony, however, Stephanie brought up that Jim lives with a sex worker. “Winnie the Pooh lives with a w***e, pays a w***e to pretend to be his girlfriend, rapes, and abuses the mother of his kids,” Stephanie said, claiming he has asked her to “kill herself” and has also referred to their two daughters as “n-word babies.” She says Jim is a “much smaller version of Harvey Weinstein,” who allegedly needs help for his condition as she believes their daughters' lives are in danger around him.