Jamie Foxx Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault
Foxx is being sued for an alleged 2015 incident in New York.
Actor Jamie Foxx is being sued for an alleged sexual assault. According to Variety, the actor is being sued by a woman identified in the suit as Jane Doe over an incident that occurred at a rooftop bar in New York City in 2015. The suit, which was filed on Wednesday, is seeking compensation for pain, suffering, emotional distress, anxiety, and humiliation and also alleges the plaintiff had to seek medical treatment from the incident. In addition to Foxx, the suit also names the bar Catch NYC, it's employees and co-founder of Catch Hospitality Group Mark Birnbaum as defendants. The plaintiff is seeking a trial by jury.
The suit is one of several being filed under New York's Adult Survivor's Act. The act, which was enacted in May 2022, amends New York state law to allow alleged victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has lapsed to file civil suits for a one-year period running from November 24, 2022, to November 24, 2023. New York had previously extended the statute of limitations for civil suits arising from sex crimes against adults from 3 years to 20 years, but it was not a retroactive extension. The Adult Survivor's Act (ASA) was enacted to allow for sex crimes not covered by the new statute of limitations to be covered for a set period of time.
Foxx is not the only high-profile figure to face lawsuits under the expiring ASA in recent days. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr., Bill Cosby, and musician Axl Rose were all recently named in complaints. A suit was filed against Sean "Diddy" Combs earlier this month as well. That suit has since been settled.
"The passage of the Adult Survivors Act has allowed victims an opportunity to come forward despite the passage of time and seek redress for the harm they have suffered," Douglas Wigdor, an attorney who is representing the plaintiff in another ASA-related case not connected to Foxx as well as actor Julia Ormond in a suit against Harvey Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter.
Foxx has most recently been in the news for his recovery from an unexpected hospitalization earlier this year for what was characterized as a "medical complication". At the time of this article's writing, Foxx has not commented on the current lawsuit.