Cuba Gooding Jr. is scheduled to stand trial beginning Tuesday in Manhattan federal court on accusations he raped a woman he met in a bar 10 years ago.
The actor’s civil trial is set to begin less than a year after he avoided prison by pleading guilty in a state criminal case that accused him of groping several women.
The woman who sued Gooding in Manhattan federal court said she met the Oscar winner in a Greenwich Village restaurant while having dinner with a friend. According to her lawsuit, Gooding invited the woman to the Mercer Hotel, where he was staying, for drinks and asked her to join him in his room while he changed clothes.
The lawsuit says Cuba put on music and stood in front of the hotel room door while he disrobed.
The woman said that as she tried to leave, Gooding “blocked her from the door and pushed her onto the bed.”
According to her lawsuit, the woman told Gooding “no” multiple times “but he wouldn’t stop” touching her before he “aggressively removed Plaintiff’s underwear” and raped her. He raped her a second time a short while later, the lawsuit said.
Gooding denies it and has said the encounter was consensual.
Three other women who have accused Gooding of sexual abuse will be allowed to testify at the trial, according to an order from the judge issued Friday.
“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,” Judge Paul Crotty wrote.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
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