Cuba Gooding Jr. responds to controversy over lifting Sarah Paulson's skirt The actor added, "I love the lady that is Sarah Paulson."

 -- Cuba Gooding Jr. is defending himself after he was criticized for lifting up his co-star Sarah Paulson's skirt.

The "American Horror Story" actor was reprehended online after images circulated of him seemingly peeking under the actress' skirt during a PaleyFest panel last month.

Gooding, 49, told People magazine, "I love the lady that is Sarah Paulson. We have a banter like brother and sister, which is how the spirit of that whole panel was."

"Yet that image was taken out to represent some kind of sexual misconduct, and that wasn’t my intent," he added. "The first person, when I heard about the fervor, I called Sarah, I said, 'I love you, I see you as my sister,' and she said, 'I feel the same way about you.' And so I let it go."

Gooding, who stars alongside Paulson in "American Horror Story: Roanoke," called the incident "a very teachable moment."

"I have two sons in college...and I say to them, 'Guys, the internet, it's a beast. It’s an information highway without regulation. Any image you put on there can be interpreted any way it wants to," he said.

Gooding concluded, "I said to my sons again, I said, ‘The only thing you can do is represent your moral compass and who you are. Because images are going to be out there without your control, so continue standing in your integrity.'"

ABC News has reached out to the reps for both Gooding and Paulson for comment.