Cuba Gooding Jr. Settles Federal Lawsuit Accusing Him Of Rape
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**Trigger Warning: Description of Sexual Assault/Rape**
Cuba Gooding Jr. has, on Tuesday (June 6), settled a 2020 civil lawsuit that accused him of rape.
As reported by the New York Times, the settlement officially averts a trial filed in the Federal District Court in Manhattan on behalf of a woman who said that the Oscar winner raped her in 2013. The trial would’ve included testimony from three other women who said he abused them between 2009 and 2019.
This is the latest (and most severe) in a series of accusations of Gooding’s alleged misconduct towards women. Last year, he plead guilty to a charge of kissing a woman without her consent.
Jury selection in the trial was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday. However, Gooding and the plaintiff’s attorney, women’s rights advocate Gloria Allred, were not present.
The court received an entry on the electronic docket that morning, saying that the parties resolved the matter.
According to AP, the lawsuit sought $6 million in damages as a result of the alleged event, said to have taken place in the summer of 2013.
The plaintiff (described in court as “Jane Doe”) said that Gooding introduced himself at a restaurant and lounge in Greenwich Village and later invited her to the Mercer Hotel in Soho for drinks.
The lawsuit then states that the Jerry Maguire star told the woman that he escorted her to his hotel room, claiming that he needed to quickly change clothes. As he began to undress, the woman tried to leave.
That’s when, according to the suit, Gooding blocked her and pushed her onto the bed. He then, allegedly, began to rape her, despite her repeated objections.
A lawyer representing Gooding at the time the lawsuit was filed said that the allegations were “completely false and defamatory.”
Three women were supposed to testify against Gooding, showing a clear pattern of abuse, but the settlement means they will not get their day in court.
One of the women who had planned to testify at the trial was Kelsey Harbert, who told police Gooding fondled her without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square in 2019.
Harbert said last year after Gooding pleaded guilty in New York state court to a charge that spared him from jail or a criminal history that never getting her day in court was “more disappointing than words can say.”
SEE ALSO:
Cuba Gooding Jr. Accused Of Rape In New Lawsuit Amid Sexual Abuse Trial
Woman Had To ‘Escape’ Cuba Gooding Jr: 7 More Allegations Detailed
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