Cuba Gooding Jr Hit With Court-Ordered Payout in Groping Lawsuit: How Much Will He Pay?

Quick update on a case that has not exactly been quiet: a New York court just told Cuba Gooding Jr. to cut a check for six figures over a 2019 groping incident. Yes, the same Cuba Gooding Jr. who won an Oscar and yelled 'Show me the money!' as Rod Tidwell in 'Jerry Maguire'. Different kind of money now.

What the court just did

After a civil lawsuit filed in late 2023 by Kelsey Harbert, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled in her favor. On October 15, a New York county clerk entered a judgment ordering Gooding to pay $329,750. That total includes $200,000 in punitive damages on top of compensatory damages. Harbert told the New York Daily News the ruling made her feel like the system finally worked for her after a long grind.

'It felt validating, especially after the criminal case ended in such a disappointing plea deal.'

How we got here (the short version)

• 2018: Gooding is accused of kissing a waitress without consent at LAVO in Manhattan.
• 2019: A separate incident at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar at the Moxy Hotel in Times Square goes public after surveillance video surfaces. Prosecutors say the footage shows Gooding first putting his hand on Kelsey Harbert's thigh, then reaching toward her private parts. He is criminally charged, and prosecutors also allege he groped or kissed two other women without consent in separate incidents, including an accusation that he pinched a woman's buttocks at TAO.
• April 2022: In a deal with DA Alvin Bragg's office, Gooding is allowed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of forcible touching tied to the 2018 LAVO incident. The agreement requires him to go to therapy and apologize on the record to Harbert and the woman from TAO. He does not serve jail time and is later allowed to withdraw the misdemeanor plea after meeting the terms.

'I apologize for making anybody ever feel inappropriately touched, anyone. I am a celebrity figure. I come into contact with people. I never want to them to feel slighted or uncomfortable in any way.'

The 2023 civil suit that led to this payout

Harbert filed a civil case against Gooding in November 2023 for sexual battery and assault under New York's Adult Survivors Act, the law that briefly reopened a window for adults to bring civil claims over past sexual assaults. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Latin ruled in Harbert's favor.

Gooding, according to court records, did not respond after the lawsuit was served in May 2024. The court proceeded without him, heard testimony, and the clerk entered the $329,750 judgment on October 15. Harbert called the outcome a rare moment of restored confidence after years of frustration with how the criminal side wrapped.

One more wrinkle

There was supposed to be a separate trial in June 2023 over an accusation that Gooding raped a woman nearly a decade earlier. That trial never happened; reports at the time said the case was settled with the unnamed accuser before it reached a jury.

Where this leaves Gooding

As of now, he owes the judgment and did not respond to this latest civil case. He could not be reached for comment. Professionally, he is still best known for 'Jerry Maguire' and also appeared in 'A Few Good Men', 'Pearl Harbor', and 'Men of Honor' alongside Robert De Niro. But this saga — from the bar video to the plea deal he later withdrew to this new judgment — has been a long, messy run of headlines that are not going away anytime soon.