Cuba Gooding Jr. settled a Manhattan federal lawsuit accusing him of rape — just as jury selection was set to begin Tuesday morning in the case.
The “Jerry Maguire” actor, 55, had been slated to face trial over a woman’s allegations that he raped her twice at the Mercer Hotel in Soho on Aug. 24, 2013.
The trial was set to begin at 10 a.m. in Manhattan federal court but at 10:24 a.m. a note was entered in the case saying “the parties have resolved the matter.”
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Gooding has not denied that the sexual encounter took place, but has maintained it was consensual.
Nine people — including Gooding and his accuser — had been listed as potential witnesses to testify at the anticipated three-to-four day trial.
The accuser filed suit anonymously in 2020 but Manhattan federal Judge Paul Crotty instructed her to reveal her identity Monday, finding that it would be prejudicial to Gooding if the jury only knew her as a Jane Doe.
Read Related Also: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi touches down in Sydney, Australia ahead of talks
But the woman never refiled her complaint with her true name — signaling the possibility of an impending settlement.
Last year, Gooding took a no-jail plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors in a sex abuse case in which he was accused of groping three woman in separate incidents in the Big Apple.
In the current case, the woman claims that she met Gooding at Le Souk lounge where the pair struck up a conversation before Gooding invited her for drinks at his hotel.
Once there, they took shots before Gooding asked her to his room so he could change his clothes, she claimed.
Gooding put on music and began stripping once in the room, groped her breasts under her shirt, while she said “no” and then raped her vaginally and anally, she alleged.
Gooding has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 30 women.
The woman’s lawyer Gloria Allred declined to comment on the terms of the settlement. Gooding’s lawyers didn’t immediately return request for comment Tuesday.
