Cuba Gooding Jr. Settles Rape Lawsuit

Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled a 2020 lawsuit with a woman who accused him of raping her in a New York City hotel room 10 years ago. Just minutes before jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday in a federal civil trial that could have caused the actor to pay millions in damages, an updated court docket entry revealed the case was “off the calendar.”

The federal court docket read, “TRIAL OFF: The jury trial scheduled to go forward today is off the calendar. Reason for cancellation (on consent): the parties have resolved the matter.” Details of the settlement are being kept confidential, but sources told Deadline the Radio actor, 55, paid the alleged victim a “considerable sum” to end the case. The settlement came after Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled last week that the woman, who has remained anonymous, would have to reveal her identity at the trial. Addressing the settlement, Gloria Allred, the plaintiff’s attorney, said in an emailed statement to ABC News, “I have no comment at this time.” Representatives for Gooding have not commented.

In her original lawsuit, filed in 2020 and seeking $6 million in damages, the unidentified woman claimed the Oscar-winning actor invited her and a friend to have drinks at the Mercer Hotel after they first met at a Greenwich Village restaurant. Per the lawsuit, Gooding then coaxed the woman up to his room, saying he needed to change clothes. Once in the room, Gooding began to undress in front of her. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the documents, allege that when she attempted to leave, Gooding blocked her exit, pushed her onto the bed, and raped her twice, despite her saying “no” many times.

In the lawsuit, Allred claimed that the actor violated New York City’s law protecting victims targeted because of their gender and caused the plaintiff physical and emotional injury. Responding to the lawsuit at the time, Gooding’s lawyer, Mark J. Heller, told The New York Times that the claims in the lawsuit are “completely false and defamatory,” noting they have not resulted in criminal charges in the seven years since the alleged assault.

In the lead-up to the trial, the judge in the case ruled that three other women who have accused Gooding of sexual abuse would be allowed to testify at the trial, stating, “The prior acts are sufficiently similar to Plaintiff’s allegations because all involve sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults connected with the Defendant and victims’ presence in social settings prominently featuring drinking like festivals, bars, nightclubs and restaurants.”