Cuba Gooding Jr. Sued for Alleged 2013 Hotel Rape

Posted on by Sophie Robinson

According to a lawsuit filed earlier this week, Cuba Gooding Jr. has been accused of raping a woman twice after coaxing her into his room at a Manhattan hotel in 2013.

What We Know:

  • The new allegation goes significantly further than the series of claims already filed against Gooding, which claim he subjected women to unwanted sexual touching, three of which are the basis for an upcoming criminal trial. Last year, a woman told police that Gooding squeezed her breast at a New York City bar. Two additional women then came forward with similar claims, resulting in the actor facing three sets of groping charges. Last week in a court hearing, an assistant district attorney, Jenna Long, said that the total number of women who had come forward with accusations against Gooding had risen to 30, but none of them had alleged rape until now.
  • The new civil lawsuit which was filed by an anonymous woman referred to as Jane Doe, claims that she first met Gooding at a restaurant in Greenwich Village, where he then invited her and a friend for drinks at the Mercer Hotel in SoHo. The lawsuit said once there, Gooding ushered her up to his hotel room on the fifth floor, saying he needed to quickly change his clothes. According to the complaint, the woman tried to leave the room, but the actor blocked her way, eventually pushing her on the bed and then raping her. Afterward, the woman tried to get away, and Gooding raped her again. The lawsuit is clear the victim told Gooding “no” multiple times, but he didn’t stop.

  • Mark J.Heller, Gooding’s lawyer, said the allegations in the lawsuit are “completely false and defamatory”, pointing out that the alleged incident did not result in criminal charges the past seven years. One of the woman’s lawyers, longtime women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, did not comment on whether the district attorney’s office or the New York Police Department were aware of the allegations or investigating them.
  • The lawsuit claims that Gooding violated a city law aimed at protecting victims who are targeted because of their gender. It also claims that Gooding caused the plaintiff both physical and emotional injury. This is Gooding’s second lawsuit, last year he was sued by one of the women that he is charged with groping, Natasha Ashworth. Ashworth accused Gooding of pinching her buttocks while she was serving him at a Manhattan nightclub.

Gooding currently faces three counts of forcible touching and three counts of sex abuse to the third degree in which he pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing. Gooding’s trial was scheduled to start in April, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, court proceedings were stalled, and another hearing is scheduled for September 1.

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