Cuba Gooding Jr. Accuser Reaches Judgment in Groping Trial

The bartender claiming Cuba Gooding Jr. groped her by pinching her butt has won a default judgment in her lawsuit against the actor after he failed to respond to the suit for more than a year. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alexander Tisch approved Ashworth's request for a default judgment against Gooding on the claims of assault and battery but denied the default judgment on the grounds of infliction of emotional distress, saying the claim is redundant. The judge went on to say that a trial should be set to determine how much Ashworth will be awarded.

The woman, named Natasha Ashworth, launched a suit in October of 2019, accusing the actor of repeatedly trying to grope her backside while she was serving him at Tao Downtown Nightclub a year before. When Gooding Jr. didn't respond to the suit for more than a year, Ashworth filed a request for a default judgment in January. Court records show the Rain Man actor never hired a civil attorney to defend himself in the suit, nor was any lawyer listed on his behalf.

Mark Heller, Gooding's criminal defense attorney, dismissed Ashworth's claims as "baseless" and says "the judgment is worthless." Though, she's not the only woman accusing the actor of sexual misconduct. There have been over 30 women to come forward alleging they each had a lewd interaction with Gooding –– some of whom, also accused the actor of inappropriate touching.

Gooding faces another lawsuit from a woman alleging that she was raped twice by him in Soho hotel room in 2013. "Plaintiff was wearing a halter top dress that evening. Defendant finished taking off his clothes (he was now completely naked) and forcibly and without consent put one hand in her halter top to touch Plaintiff's breasts and one hand up her dress," the suit states, per Page Six. He's also been criminally charged with six misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching. It comes from the testimonies of three women, including Ashworth. The actor was arrested in June 2019 for supposedly inappropriately touching a woman by grabbing her breast inside the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in the Moxy Times Square hotel.