Cuba Gooding Jr. settles with rape accuser before start of civil trial

Cuba Gooding Jr. settled his lawsuit with a woman who accused him of raping her a decade ago at the Mercer Hotel.

The settlement comes as jury selection was about to begin Tuesday in a civil trial that could have caused the actor to pay millions in damages had the jury found for the woman, who was identified as Jane Doe.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

“The parties have resolved the matter,” a brief entry on the court docket said.

Gooding had denied raping the woman, saying their encounter was consensual.

The woman accused Gooding of raping her twice on the night of August 24, 2013.

After meeting the actor at a restaurant where she was having dinner with a friend, the woman said he invited her for drinks at the hotel where he was staying.

According to her lawsuit, the Oscar-winning actor asked her to come to his room so he could change clothes. Gooding stripped naked, blocked the door and pushed the woman onto the bed, ignoring her repeated cries of “no,” the lawsuit alleged.

Three other women who have accused Gooding of sexual abuse were set to testify had the case gone to trial. The judge said their allegations were “sufficiently similar” to Jane Doe’s.

The defense had suggested there was evidence that after the encounter with Gooding the woman returned to meet her friend and bragged about sleeping with a celebrity. The evidence never materialized.

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