Cuba Gooding Jr. and accuser have 'resolved the matter' in federal civil rape lawsuit
CNN —
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and a woman who accused him of rape have “resolved the matter” in the federal civil case against him, according to a court docket entry.
The trial was set to kick off Tuesday with jury selection, but is now “off the calendar,” the docket states.
The woman had alleged that Gooding raped her at the Mercer Hotel in August 2013 after meeting her in a bar earlier that night. Gooding has asserted that the interaction was consensual.
The anonymous accuser filed the claim under the New York City “Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law” alleging that Jane Doe “suffered as a result of being a victim of violence committed on the basis of gender, and due, at least in part, to an animus based on gender.”
The federal judge presiding over the case ruled last Friday that the accuser must identify herself in an amended complaint to be filed on the docket Monday ahead of the trial. An amended complaint revealing her identity does not appear on the public court docket.
Two sources told CNN that the ruling led to the case falling apart.
“She did not want to come forward publicly,” one of the sources with knowledge of the case told CNN.
The second source added, “All weekend both legal teams have been back and forth working this out so that it would not have to move to trial.”
CNN has reached out to attorneys for Jane Doe and Gooding.
Gooding, 55, is best known for his role as Rod Tidwell in the film “Jerry Maguire,” for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Last year, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of forcibly touching a woman at a New York City nightclub in 2018. Gooding admitted to kissing the woman, a waitress at the club, on her lips without consent. He also admitted to two other incidents of nonconsensual contact in October 2018 and June 2019.
When the plea agreement was announced in April, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert said their office believed the agreement was “fair and equitable.”
Gooding complied with the terms of the plea deal and did not face any jail time, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. In October, he pleaded guilty to a lesser harassment violation, but no criminal charges will remain.
Source: CNN
