Cuba Gooding Jr. in Legal Crosshairs Again as Two More Lawsuits Emerge Regarding Sexual Assault Allegations

Cuba Gooding Jr., the Oscar-winning actor, is once again making headlines, and it’s not for his silver screen performances. Two fresh lawsuits have been slapped on him, both linked to alleged groping incidents that date back to 2018 and 2019.

These bombshell suits dropped on Wednesday, November 22, taking advantage of New York state’s newly enacted Adult Survivors Act, which opened a one-year window for plaintiffs to bring forth civil claims of sexual assault that would otherwise have been barred by the statute of limitations.

According to The Los Angeles Times, an unnamed plaintiff claims Gooding forcibly stuck his tongue down her throat while she was working as a waitress at the glamorous LAVO nightclub in New York in the first suit. Gooding did admit guilt last year, but it was for a lesser charge of criminal forcible touching linked to the same incident. What a twist!

The second lawsuit, equally shocking, comes from a woman named Kelsey Harbert. She alleges that Gooding got handsy, touching her thighs and breast after she approached his table, where he was sitting with his girlfriend. Harbert reveals that the encounter made her feel like, you guessed it, a “piece of meat.” Gooding had also previously pleaded guilty to a lesser criminal charge related to this incident, confessing to “non-consensual physical contact.” Talk about déjà vu!

Now, here’s where it gets even more interesting. Gooding managed to avoid jail time with a plea deal in the criminal trial for both of these incidents. Instead, he was ordered to undergo six months of counseling. But justice might not be done just yet!

Gloria Allred, the attorney representing the brave plaintiffs in these new lawsuits, minced no words when she said, “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.”

Both women are going for the big bucks, seeking unspecified damages for assault and battery, emotional, physical, and mental distress, lost wages, and attorney’s fees.

These lawsuits are just the tip of the iceberg. Gooding has been sailing through a storm of sex abuse claims in recent years. In June, he quietly settled with a woman who accused him of raping her twice in a Soho hotel room back in 2013. And when the criminal groping trial unfolded in 2020, a tidal wave of women came forward, totaling a shocking 30 accusers, all with stories of unwanted touching by Gooding. It’s a shocking pattern that can’t be ignored!

Attempts have been made to reach out to Gooding’s lawyer for comment, but the drama is far from over in this Hollywood scandal that just won’t quit! Stay tuned, folks, because this courtroom drama is far from reaching its final act!