By Dawn Chmielewski and Steve Gorman
Nov 22 (Reuters) – Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx was
accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in New York City on
Wednesday that alleges he groped a woman at a rooftop bar and
restaurant in Manhattan in August 2015.
The plaintiff, identified in the complaint only as Jane Doe,
said the assault occurred in a secluded corner of the Catch NYC
rooftop lounge after she and a friend had approached the film
star and had their pictures taken with him.
Foxx’s representatives did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified
damages.
The lawsuit said Foxx began groping the woman and putting
his hands under her clothing against her will until her friend
found the two of them, interrupting the encounter, and she left.
The actor is best known for his Academy Award-winning
portrayal of singer Ray Charles in the 2004 film “Ray.” He also
earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting role that same
year in the film “Collateral.”
He is one of the latest high-profile celebrities accused of
sexual wrongdoing in a recent series of lawsuits filed under the
Adult Survivors Act, a New York state law allowing such lawsuits
to be filed in court even if the statutes of limitations have
run out.
The deadline for the special one-year window for such
complaints under the law expires at the end of this month.
Music industry veteran Jimmy Iovine was likewise sued on
Wednesday by an woman claiming he sexually abused her.
In the Iovine complaint filed in New York state court in
Manhattan, a woman identified only as “Jane Doe” said she was
sexually abused, forcibly touched and subject to sexual
harassment and retaliation in August 2007.
A spokesperson for Iovine said they were “quite shocked and
baffled” by the complaint.
“This inquiry is the first we’ve heard of this matter. No
one has ever made a claim like this against Jimmy Iovine, nor
have we been contacted or made aware of any complaint by anyone,
including this unknown plaintiff prior to now,” the spokesperson
said.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, declined further
comment.
Iovine, a onetime recording engineer, co-founded Interscope
Records, a music label associated with West Coast hip hop that
is now part of Universal Music Group. Iovine later
partnered in 2006 with producer Dr. Dre to launch Beats
Electronics, a company which Apple acquired in 2014 for
$3 billion.
Others sued under the law include actors Russell Brand and
Bill Cosby, former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, a former
president, Donald Trump, and hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs,
whose case was settled after one day.
Axl Rose, the former lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, was sued
under the law on Wednesday by Sheila Kennedy, an actress and
former Penthouse Pet of the Year, over an alleged 1989 assault.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Editing by Daniel Wallis, Dan Whitcomb, Robert Birsel
)