New York Adult Survivors Act allowed survivors to file claims after statute of limitations expired
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC INFORMATION
A number of Hollywood stars – including Jamie Foxx, Bill Cosby, and Cuba Gooding Jr. – were accused of sexual abuse last week as sexual assault survivors filed lawsuits before the New York Adult Survivors Act officially expired.
Jamie Foxx allegedly sexually assaulted "Jane Doe" in 2015 at Catch NYC restaurant in a claim filed in a New York court Wednesday. In documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Doe, the Plaintiff, claimed the Academy Award winner was "intoxicated" when he grabbed her by the arm and proceeded to assault her in the back area of the rooftop lounge.
JAMIE FOXX ACCUSED OF 2015 SEXUAL ASSAULT IN NEW LAWSUIT
The complaint stated Doe and a friend were seated "one table away" from the "Ray" actor who was having drinks with restaurateur Mark Birnbaum. Doe recalled crowds of patrons gathering and being ushered away from the table throughout the evening, but she and her friend were never asked to move tables.
Jamie Foxx, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Axl Rose were each named in sexual abuse lawsuits filed in New York last week. (Getty Images)
After Doe and her friend asked for photos with Jamie, the complaint alleged that "Foxx proceeded to grab Plaintiff by her arm and pulled her to the back area of the rooftop." Once in a more "secluded area," Doe claimed Foxx "placed both of his hands" on her waist before moving them under her crop top where he "began rubbing her breasts."
The suit alleged, "Plaintiff was caught off guard and attempted to step away from Foxx. Plaintiff noticed Defendant John Doe, a security guard of one of the Defendants some distance away who saw what was happening but walked further away." According to the suit, Foxx then allegedly proceeded to slide his hands into the Plaintiff's pants.
"The alleged incident never happened," Foxx's representative told Fox News Digital. "In 2020, this individual filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Brooklyn. That case was dismissed shortly thereafter. The claims are no more viable today than they were then. We are confident they will be dismissed again. And once they are, Mr. Foxx intends to pursue a claim for malicious prosecution against this person and her attorneys for re-filing this frivolous action."
Joining the slew of celebrities named in explosive suits is New York City mayor Eric Adams, whose camp vehemently denies the allegations.
AXL ROSE ACCUSED OF VIOLENT SEXUAL ASSAULT BY FORMER MODEL IN 1989: LAWSUIT
Gregory Feit, attorney at Reavis Page Jump LLP, noted that the "spate of lawsuits recently filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act came just as a critical filing deadline was approaching."
Jamie Foxx was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 22. (Karwai Tang)
"The Adult Survivors Act created a special one-year-long lookback window within which adult victims of sexual abuse could file civil lawsuits against their abusers and the enablers of such abuse, even when those lawsuits would have been time-barred under otherwise applicable statutes of limitations," Feit told Fox News Digital.
"The lookback window expired last week, so a number of claimants and their counsel who had not already filed claims under the Act rushed, roughly around the same time, to bring their lawsuits on time. The number of filings also appears to have mounted rapidly as word spread about the deadline."
Axl Rose was accused of sexual assault and battery by model Sheila Kennedy, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. The former Penthouse "Pet of the Year" claimed the Guns N' Roses lead singer used his "fame, status, and power as a celebrity and performer in the music industry to gain access to manipulate, control, and violently sexually assault Kennedy."
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Rose — whose full name is William Bruce Rose, Jr. — allegedly invited Kennedy back to his hotel room for a party with his friend, David Andrew "Riki" Rachtman, where the singer "provided cocaine, champagne, and alcohol to his guests in the suite."
The lawsuit stated, "Rose’s sexual abuse of Kennedy had lifelong emotional, physical, psychological, and financial impacts on Kennedy’s life." Kennedy claimed she was "diagnosed with anxiety and depression" due to the assault. She also said her career has suffered.
Sheila Kennedy suffered "severe emotional, physical, financial and psychological distress" after allegedly being assaulted by Rose. (Getty Images)
"Simply put, this incident never happened. Notably, these fictional claims were filed the day before the New York State filing deadline expires," Rose's lawyer, Alan S. Gutman, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Though he doesn’t deny the possibility of a fan photo taken in passing, Mr. Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to the Plaintiff, and has never heard about these fictional allegations prior to today.
"Mr. Rose is confident this case will be resolved in his favor."
SEAN 'DIDDY' COMBS 'VEHEMENTLY DENIES' ACCUSATIONS OF RAPE AND YEARS OF ABUSE BY EX CASSIE
Kennedy's representative, Dr. Ann Olivarius, Chair of the Executive Committee at McAllister Olivarius, told Fox News Digital, "We expect that Sheila Kennedy’s decision to file this suit will be an important turning point for the music industry. Her account is unfortunately all too typical of a culture of violence and sexual misconduct that has been allowed to exist in plain sight for decades.
Sean "Diddy" Combs settled a lawsuit with ex-girlfriend Cassie one day after she filed a claim stating she endured "over a decade" of the music mogul's "violent behavior and disturbed demands."
"I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support," Cassie wrote in a statement. Combs said in his own statement that the decision was agreed upon by both parties, and he had no ill will towards the singer.
"We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love."
Cassie claimed she endured more than a decade of abuse at the hands of Sean "Diddy" Combs. (Getty Images)
Cassie specifically accused Diddy of raping her in her own home and forcing her to have sex with male prostitutes while he watched and filmed. The R&B singer also alleged Diddy "punched, beat, kicked and stomped" on her.
"After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships," she told Fox News Digital in a statement. "With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching, it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life."
Two more women came forward with claims just before the law's expiration, each claiming sexual abuse by Combs in separate incidents.
SEAN 'DIDDY' COMBS 'VEHEMENTLY DENIES' ACCUSATIONS OF RAPE AND YEARS OF ABUSE BY EX CASSIE
Cuba Gooding, Jr. was accused of sexual assault and battery stemming from a 2019 incident where Kelsey Harbert claimed the actor grabbed her breast at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in New York.
"In response, Plaintiff (Harbert) grabbed Defendant’s (Gooding, Jr.) hand in order to remove it from her breast to which Defendant then took her hand, put it up to his mouth, and tried to kiss it," according to the lawsuit. "Four days following this incident — on June 13, 2019—Defendant was arrested."
In 2022, the "Men of Honor" star originally pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor forcible touching for kissing a woman without her consent at LAVO Nightclub on the Upper East Side in September 2018. He previously faced six counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching for allegedly groping three women on separate occasions in New York City.
Cuba Gooding Jr. struck a plea deal in a sex abuse case last year which allowed him to keep a clear criminal record. (Johnny Nunez)
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Gooding, Jr. completed the terms of his no-jail plea deal in October, which included six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling.
His accuser filed a separate lawsuit last week.
"Our clients were deprived of the justice they sought in the criminal case," Harbert's attorneys Gloria Allred of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg and Casey Wolnowski of Nisar Law Group, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "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."
Bill Cosby faced a new lawsuit by Joan Tarshis, who first made assault accusations against the disgraced comedian in 2014. Tarshis claimed Cosby drugged and assaulted her on two occasions in the years around 1970.
Another lawsuit filed by Kathrine McKee accused Cosby of being a "serial sexual predator." McKee claimed in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital that Cosby "forcibly raped" her in an "unprovoked and violent attack" in 1978.
Earlier this summer, ten women came forward with new claims that Cosby had assaulted them after California and Nevada lifted statutes of limitations for sexual assault. These alleged incidents took place between 1969 and 1992.
Bill Cosby faces new sexual assault accusations. (Gilbert Carrasquillo)
Julia Ormond accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in October. Ormond, who starred in "Sabrina" with Harrison Ford and worked on multiple films with Brad Pitt, claimed in documents obtained by Fox News Digital that "Weinstein stripped naked and forced her to perform oral sex on him" in an apartment provided by Miramax.
Ormond also claimed the alleged sexual assault "could have been prevented if Miramax or Disney had properly supervised Weinstein and not retained him while knowing that he was a danger to the women he encountered at work." Weinstein denied the allegations in a statement provided to Fox News Digital by his attorney, Imran H. Ansari.
"Harvey Weinstein categorically denies the allegations made against him by Julia Ormond, and he is prepared to defend himself. This is yet another example of a complaint filed against Mr. Weinstein after the passing of decades, and he is confident that the evidence will not support Ms. Ormond’s claims."
Steven Tyler faces an accusation that he forcibly kissed and groped a woman in the 1970s and Russell Brand was sued under the law by a woman who said she was an extra on the set of the movie "Arthur" in 2010, in which Brand was starring. The woman accused Brand of exposing himself and assaulting her in a bathroom.
Legal expert Christopher C. Melcher, partner at Walzer Melcher & Yoda, told Fox News Digital that while major celebrities were named in a handful of claims, it "should be the end of the line for NY suits, as claimants had an opportunity to sue under the earlier version of the law and the extended deadline expired Friday."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to
