Cuba Gooding Jr. was set to face the charges brought against him in 2020 by a woman who accused the actor of rape in 2013 but the case has been settled. The jury selection for the case was supposed to begin today.
The Associated Press reported out of New York that Cuba Gooding Jr. reached a last minute undisclosed settlement with his accuser. The settlement may partially be motivated by a decision that Judge Paul Crotty made in the case last week when he ruled that the alleged victim must reveal her identity and thus not maintain her anonymity.
The lawsuit alleges that Gooding raped her in a New York City hotel room in 2013. After meeting her, he ultimately convinced her to go to his room where she alleges that he raped her. He claims that they had consensual sex. The woman was suing Gooding for $6 million in damages. The trial was also set to have three other women testify against Gooding with rape allegations.
Gooding Jr.’s lawyer, Mark Heller, initially stated at the time the allegations were made, that he expected the case to be dismissed and, furthermore, claimed that the accusations against his client were false.
The rape allegations that Gooding Jr. was facing are not related to two allegations of sexual assault from 2019, one of which Gooding pleaded guilty to as part of a plea agreement where he avoided jail time, something that his accuser publicly stated was “more disappointing than words can say.”
Neither Gooding, his lawyers, nor the accuser’s lawyers have yet commented.