Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. accused of 2013 rape in lawsuit filed by unnamed woman

[August 19, 2020]  (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has been accused of raping a woman twice in a New York City hotel room in 2013, according to a civil lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

The woman, identified in the lawsuit only as "Jane Doe," said she met Gooding in a Manhattan bar in August 2013 and was invited to join him for drinks at a nearby hotel.

Gooding asked her up to his hotel room, where he said he needed to change his clothes. The actor then raped her both vaginally and anally, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Southern District of New York.

Gooding's attorney, Mark Jay Heller, said the allegations were untrue.

"The allegations are false. It's an event that took place seven years ago. No complaint was ever lodged. We believe the allegations and the complaint will be dismissed," Heller told Reuters by phone.

The woman is seeking a jury trial as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

Gooding, 52, won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1997 for the film "Jerry Maguire" and is known for roles in movies including "A Few Good Men" and "The Butler" and in the television miniseries "The People v. O.J. Simpson."

In 2019, the actor pleaded not guilty in New York to charges of groping three different women in incidents in nightclubs in the city 2018. Those criminal cases have yet to be resolved.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

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