Cuba Gooding Jr. Settles Civil Rape Lawsuit Minutes Before Trial Begins
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Cuba Gooding Jr.’s civil sex abuse case, which alleged that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel in 2013, will no longer go to trial. The actor settled the lawsuit on Tuesday, just minutes before jury selection in the scheduled trial began, the Associated Press reports. The official court record stated “the parties have resolved the matter” as the reason for cancellation.
Last week, Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that the woman allegedly assaulted by the actor would no longer be able to proceed anonymously in the case. The civil lawsuit was first filed in 2013, alleging that Gooding raped her twice. According to court records, he insisted that their contact was consensual. The suit, however, detailed that the woman attempted to leave the room as the actor undressed but was blocked from doing so.
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If the woman were to have proceeded with the trial, her identity would be shared with the public. She was initially seeking $6 million in damages. Attorneys for Gooding did not respond to requests for comment.
In April 2022, after three women accused the actor of groping them, Gooding pleaded guilty to a single count of forcible touching in a separate criminal case as part of a plea deal. The deal allowed the actor to lessen a separate harassment charge on the condition that he completes six months of treatment for alcohol and behavior modification.
Given that Gooding completed the required counseling sessions, he was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. He then pleaded guilty to a non-criminal harassment violation, which cleared his criminal record, and prevented further punishment. In October, he pleaded guilty to harassment as part of a plea deal that would allow him to avoid serving prison time.
Last week, the judge ruled that three women who previously accused Gooding of sudden or attempted sexual assaults would be allowed to testify in the civil sex abuse case. But now that the case has settled, no one will be testifying.
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