Two women are suing Cuba Gooding Jr. for assault and battery, accusing the actor of groping and forcibly kissing them at New York nightclubs on separate occasions.
Their civil complaints, filed under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act, arrive just months after the 55-year-old Oscar winner settled a federal lawsuit moments before trial. In that case, Gooding Jr. was accused of raping a woman at the Mercer Hotel in 2013.
One of the plaintiffs, Kelsey Harbert, came forward with accusations against Gooding Jr. that sparked a criminal case against him in 2019.
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Last year, Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to a single count of harassment related to his conduct against the other plaintiff, who has requested to remain anonymous.
The Daily Beast left messages for an attorney for Gooding Jr.
The women are represented by lawyers Gloria Allred and Casey Wolnowski, who provided a statement to The Daily Beast: “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.”
The Jerry Maguire actor avoided jail time, instead completing an alcohol and behavior modification counseling course. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office had charged him with six counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse and forcible touching for allegedly preying on three victims at New York hotspots.
“This plea deal feels like a misstep,” Harbert said at a plea hearing in Gooding Jr.’s case. “After three long years of trying to hold Mr. Gooding Jr. accountable for forcibly touching my breast without my consent, having my day in court taken from me is more devastating than words can convey.”
Harbert’s lawsuit says that she approached Gooding Jr. and his girlfriend—identified in previous reports as Claudine De Niro—at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in June 2019.
But as soon as Harbert sat down, the legal filing alleges, Gooding Jr. reached over his girlfriend and grabbed Harbert’s thigh. Seconds later, he allegedly touched her breast.
The complaint quotes Harbert’s own statements in criminal court related to the episode: “So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw a flash of [mo]vement, and felt his hand on my breast, groping it, feeling around on it, as if I was a piece of meat.”
After Hartbert tried to remove Gooding Jr.’s grip, he took her hand and tried to kiss it. The lawsuit says Gooding Jr. appeared “heavily intoxicated that evening and during this interaction.”
Harbert spoke to security at the bar and also filed a police report in the early hours of the following day. Gooding Jr. was arrested four days later.
Meanwhile, the other accuser’s complaint says Gooding Jr. thrust his tongue in her mouth when she was working as a cocktail waitress at LAVO in September 2018.
The woman had taken Gooding Jr’s table after a coworker asked someone else to serve the actor and his group because he “had subjected her to inappropriate behavior years before, so much so that she hid from him when he entered the restaurant,” the lawsuit says.
While the waitress was serving Gooding Jr. drinks, he “put his mouth up to [hers] and forced his tongue in her mouth” without her consent, the complaint adds.
The lawsuit states that Gooding Jr. was charged with forcible touching in connection to this encounter and “pleaded guilty to a charge relating to the conduct to which he subjected” her.
During Gooding Jr.’s April 2022 plea hearing, the celebrity admitted to the actions alleged by the waitress and Harbert, according to the pair of lawsuits.
When the judge asked Gooding Jr. to confirm that he forcibly touched someone in September 2018 for the purpose of “gratifying your sexual desire,” he said yes.
“Tell me in your own words, what you did,” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor. I said, I kissed the waitress on her lips.”
The accusers’ lawsuits were filed before the Adult Survivors Act expires at midnight on Thursday. The law created a one-year lookback window for accusers to sue alleged sexual abusers despite the statute of limitations on their claims running out.
