Cuba Gooding Jr settles civil sex abuse case moments before trial

[June 07, 2023]  By Jack Queen
 
(Reuters) - Cuba Gooding Jr. reached a settlement on Tuesday with a woman who sued him for $6 million on an accusation that he raped her a decade ago, with the agreement coming minutes before jury selection was set to being in Manhattan federal court.  

The eleventh-hour deal means the Oscar winning “Jerry Maguire” star will avoid having details of the alleged assault aired in court, while his accuser will not be forced to reveal her identity after U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that week that she could not go to trial anonymously.

Gooding has denied the allegations and said the sex was consensual. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No details about the settlement were publicly available Tuesday. Lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents the woman, declined to comment.

The woman sought $6 million in damages in her lawsuit, filed in August 2020. She alleged the actor lured her to his hotel room and raped her after they met at a restaurant in Manhattan.

Crotty ruled last week that three other women who alleged Gooding Jr. assaulted or attempted to assault them would be permitted to testify at trial.

Gooding has been accused of unwanted sexual touching by 30 women, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested in June 2019 in a separate criminal case after a woman told police he fondled her without consent at a bar near Times Square. Gooding later faced additional charges for allegedly touching women without their consent.

Gooding pleaded guilty in April 2022 to forcible touching for kissing one of the women on the lips without her consent. The deal with prosecutors allowed him to avoid jail time and clear his record after completing six months of alcohol and behavior counseling.

(Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by David Gregorio)

(Photo: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. appears with his attorney Frank Rothman in New York Criminal Court for his sentencing hearing after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018, in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo)

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