November 23, (THEWILL) – American actor, Cuba Gooding Junior, is facing renewed allegations of sexual abuse from two women, Jasmine Abbay and Kelsey Harbert, who had previously filed criminal charges against the actor.
The sexual and battery assault lawsuit against the 55-year-old was filed separately on Wednesday, in the New York Supreme Court.
Abbay and Harbert, both accusing Gooding of past sexual misconduct, assert that the actor’s actions were malicious, willful, and outrageous. Alongside pursuing a jury trial, both women seek compensation for lost wages, emotional distress, punitive damages, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.
The women submitted their claims under New York’s expiring Adult Survivors Act, providing victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be time-barred.
This window concludes on November 23, coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday.
Abbay, who met Gooding in September 2018 while working at LAVO in NYC, alleges in her November 2023 lawsuit that Gooding sexually assaulted her during a drink service. This follows a previous incident for which Gooding pleaded guilty to forcible touching in April 2022. Abbay claims injuries including psychological trauma, emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation.
Harbert on the other hand met Gooding at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in June 2019. According to the lawsuit, Gooding allegedly touched her thigh and breast. Harbert filed a police report, leading to Gooding’s arrest for forcible touching. In April 2022, he admitted to non-consensual contact. In her November 2023 lawsuit, Harbert claims sexual assault and battery, citing injuries like psychological trauma, emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation.
Furthermore, In June 2023, Gooding reached a settlement in a sexual assault lawsuit where a woman accused him of raping her a decade ago in a New York City hotel, as per court records. The actor, maintaining the encounter was consensual after meeting at a nearby restaurant, settled the case with the accuser, Jane Doe.
She claimed they met in the VIP lounge of a Greenwich Village restaurant in August 2013, and agreed to join him at a hotel bar, but was allegedly encouraged to go to Gooding’s room alone. The lawsuit sought $6 million in damages for significant emotional distress. Gooding’s lawyers argued it was consensual, stating the accuser had bragged about the encounter.
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