Cuba Gooding Jr. Faces Two Lawsuits Over Sexual Assault Claims

Cuba Gooding Jr. is facing two new lawsuits from women who claimed that he groped them in separate incidents at New York restaurants in 2018 and 2019.

The lawsuits were filed on Wednesday in New York Supreme Court under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which is set to expire this week. The law gives plaintiffs a window to file civil claims of sexual offenses that have otherwise been barred by the statute of limitations.

The litigation is the latest against Gooding, who settled a lawsuit in June with a woman who accused him of rape in 2013.

In the 2018 claim, a cocktail waitress working at LAVO restaurant and nightclub in New York accused Gooding of forcing his tongue in her mouth without her consent. Gooding pleaded guilty to a charge related to the incident last year. The lawsuit includes a portion of the transcript from an April, 2022 hearing where Gooding admitted to the conduct. The plaintiff requested that her named not be used.

In the 2019 claim, Kelsey Harbert alleged that Gooding groped her breast after she had sat down next to he and his girlfriend at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge. “In response, Plaintiff grabbed Defendant’s hand in order to remove it from her breast to which Defendant then took her hand, put it up to his mouth, and tried to kiss it,” according to the lawsuit.

Harbert filed a police report after the incident. Gooding also pleaded guilty, and the lawsuit included a comment from his hearing in which he said that it was “non-consensual physical contact.”

Read the lawsuit against Gooding here.

In October, 2022, after a judge determined that Gooding had followed the terms of a plea agreement, the actor received no prison time and replaced his misdemeanor plea with a plea to a noncriminal harassment violation.

Both plaintiffs are seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress, punitive damages, liquidated damages and attorneys’ fees.

A representative for Gooding did not immediately return a request for comment.

Gloria Allred, who is representing the two plaintiffs, said in a statement, “Our clients were deprived of the justice they sought in the criminal case. They are now seeking justice and accountability in their civil cases. We are proud of their courage and intend to vigorously fight for them until they win the justice that they deserve.”