Actor Cuba Gooding Jr has reached a settlement with an unnamed woman who had accused him of rape in a New York City hotel room back in 2013.
The settlement agreement was reached just as jury selection was about to commence for a federal civil trial that was expected to include damaging testimony against Gooding Jr.
The Oscar winner, aged 55, has consistently denied the allegation, maintaining that his interactions with the woman were consensual.
Gooding Jr has faced accusations of groping and unwanted touching from numerous women.
The details of the settlement have not been disclosed.
Last year, Gooding Jr pleaded guilty to forcibly kissing a woman without her consent. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, he avoided jail time and a criminal record, with charges related to three other accusers dismissed. He was ordered to undergo six months of alcohol and behavioral counseling.
However, the civil trial was set to feature testimonies from those three women who claimed the actor had abused them between 2009 and 2019.
The lawsuit, which has now been settled, was filed in 2020 on behalf of a woman identified as Jane Doe. The plaintiff sought $6 million (£4.8 million) in damages.
According to the allegations, in the summer of 2013, Gooding Jr had introduced himself to the woman at a local restaurant and invited her to have drinks at The Mercer Hotel in Soho, where he was staying.
The woman claimed that at the hotel, Gooding Jr insisted on changing clothes and invited her to his fifth-floor room, where he began undressing.
She stated that she attempted to leave, but Gooding Jr blocked her path, pushed her onto the bed, persistently touched her against her will, forcefully removed her underwear, and sexually penetrated her on two occasions.
A lawyer representing Gooding Jr at the time vehemently denied the allegations, considering them entirely false and defamatory.
Last week, the presiding judge ruled that testimony from three other accusers of Gooding Jr would be allowed in court, as their accounts were deemed “sufficiently similar” to the plaintiff’s allegation.
Kelsey Harbert, one of the women who accused Gooding Jr, expressed deep disappointment with his previous plea deal, describing it as “more disappointing than words can say.”
Jury selection for the trial was scheduled to begin at 10:00 EDT on Tuesday, but neither Gooding Jr nor attorneys from either side appeared.
According to the court’s electronic docket, an entry states: “TRIAL OFF. Reason for cancellation: The parties have resolved the matter.”
