Photo Credit: Cuba Gooding, Jr/Instagram
As the show Empire came to an end, closed Cuba Gooding, Jr found himself in a laundry list of scandals. In fact, the show Scandal could be revived and be centered around his life these days. Just as he’s been awaiting a trial for groping scheduled for September 1st, he’s just been accused of raping a woman. The incident allegedly occurred in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 where the victim says they were raped twice. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday has her listed as “Jane Doe” for privacy reasons and says it occurred at a Greenwich Village VIP lounge.
Gooding’s attorney Mark Heller said the “alleged event never took place. And my client is totally innocent of any of these false allegations and we’re confident it will be dismissed,” he said. “She’s probably just somebody who’s looking for some glory to bask in the publicity and notoriety of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s case,” he added.
Heller spoke to the state court allegations against Gooding of misdemeanor criminal charges of sexual abuse and forcible touching other women have made against him as “incredulous” and a waste of taxpayer money.
The federal lawsuit says Gooding went to a Soho hotel with the woman to visit a ground-floor bar and restaurant where she was joined by friends of theirs. But after arriving, he wanted to go upstairs to change and invited her up. It was at that point that he turned on music and attacked her, taking her clothes off and pinning her down before raping her. The lawsuit says she tried to tell him “’no’ numerous times but he wouldn’t stop.” Court documents state that the victim was left with “emotional pain, suffering, and a loss of enjoyment of life.”
Prosecutors state that Gooding has around 30 women accusing him of groping. Last week he plead not guilty to six misdemeanor charges of forcible touching and sexual abuse and could face up to a year in prison if convicted. We just finished having a conversation about being innocent until proven guilty so for now, we’re just going to hope this isn’t true for his sake and we’ll be reporting on updates of this case.
