Cuba Gooding Jr. rape trial: Judge rules 3 women can testify in sexual assault case


A New York judge ruled three women who accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual abuse can testify at a federal civil trial next week. 

The three women are supporting a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe who alleges the actor raped her in his Manhattan hotel room after they met in a bar in 2013. 

Judge Paul A. Crotty noted in a separate order that the woman will have to reveal her true name at the trial.

Jane Doe is seeking $6 million in damages against the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star.

CUBA GOODING JR. RAPE LAWSUIT TRIAL SET FOR JUNE

A New York judge ruled three women who accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual abuse can testify at a federal civil trial. (AP Images)

Crotty said the claims by the three women who can testify “are sufficiently similar” to the claims at issue in the trial because “all involve sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults” allegedly involving Gooding Jr.

Gooding Jr. allegedly raped the women in social settings such as festivals, bars, nightclubs and restaurants, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

His lawyers claimed one of the women had consensual sex with Gooding Jr. after they met in the VIP lounge of a Greenwich Village restaurant. 

CUBA GOODING JR. ACCUSED OF 2013 RAPE IN CIVIL LAWSUIT

She allegedly joined him at a nearby hotel bar, agreeing to proceed to his hotel room so the actor could change clothes.

Once in the room, he was “completely naked” and “forcibly and without consent” put one hand in her top while placing another hand up her dress. “Jane Doe” claimed to repeatedly tell Gooding Jr. “no,” but he did not stop his advances and then raped her.

Cuba Gooding Jr. sits in Manhattan courtroom

Three women are supporting a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe, who alleges the actor raped her in his Manhattan hotel room after they met at a bar in 2013.  (David Dee Delgado)

After Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty last year, another woman named Kelsey Harbert broke down in tears and said she never got her day in court. Harbert noted it was “more disappointing than words can say.”

In 2019, Harbert reported Gooding Jr. to the police and detailed an alleged rape case. 

She told authorities Gooding Jr. fondled her without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in Manhattan.

CUBA GOODING JR. COULD BE ON THE HOOK FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AFTER IGNORING RAPE LAWSUIT

The judge disallowed the testimony of a fourth woman on the grounds her proposed testimony that Gooding Jr. groped her breast without her consent in 2011 was so similar to Harbert’s expected testimony that it would be “needlessly cumulative” and would increase the chance of improper bias. The trial is scheduled to start Tuesday.

The “Boyz n the Hood” star recently completed the terms of a no-jail plea deal in a separate sex abuse case from a 2018 incident at a nightclub in which he allegedly kissed a woman against her will.

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Cuba Gooding Jr. was accused of sexual misconduct allegations by more than seven women. (Johnny Nunez)

Initially filed as a misdemeanor plea, the charge was downgraded to second-degree harassment. Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to a harassment violation after completing six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling. 

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Had he not agreed to the plea deal, Gooding Jr. could have spent one year in jail.

At one point, Gooding Jr. was accused of sexual misconduct by more than seven women.

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Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright and the Associated Press contributed to this report.



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