Serious allegations against magician David Copperfield: He is said to have groped minors during his shows and forced women to have sex. The stories of 16 women reveal a frightening pattern. Copperfield denies everything.
It was supposed to be a special moment in the spotlight, but it turned into a nightmare: When Lily was around 15 years old, she and her family attended a show by the magician David Copperfield. The American could hardly believe her luck when the well-known TV star chose her to assist him with a trick on stage. With a rope in his hand, Copperfield positioned himself behind the student, put his arm around her and then began touching her breasts. “His forearms went up and down on my chest pretty roughly, all while he was talking to the audience and doing the trick,” she says. “I was ashamed and disgusted.” Her sister confirms the incident. A similar thing is said to have happened to Olivia, who reported being touched between the legs by Copperfield in public when she was 17 years old. He whispered in her ear that she should come to his hotel later.
Lily and Olivia actually have different names and are two of 16 women who have made serious allegations against the well-known illusionist Copperfield. The allegations take place between 1988 and 2014 and range from sexual harassment to descriptions of rape. More than half of the women said they were underage at the time of the incidents. Copperfield denies the women’s statements and had his lawyers deny all allegations. But many of the statements reveal a frightening pattern.
David Copperfield denies the allegations
After a show in Las Vegas in the early 1990s, a woman reports, Copperfield invited her and a friend to his hotel room. There he offered them a schnapps, after which they could only vaguely remember the rest of the evening. Copperfield raped both of them because they were no longer capable of consent. “I’m sure I was drugged,” she says today. The 67-year-old magician’s lawyers rejected all allegations. Drugs are not part of Copperfield’s world.
Two other women independently reported that Copperfield gave them his phone number when they were teenagers and was in regular contact with them. He sent one a card on her 16th birthday with the words “I’ll be back in two years!”. In fact, he and the woman, who was 19 years his junior, became a couple after her 18th birthday. In retrospect, however, she sees the relationship critically because of the age and power difference, the woman said today. Copperfield’s lawyers emphasize that this was a legal and consensual relationship.
The FBI was already investigating Copperfield
The Guardian also spoke to former employees of Copperfield, who confirmed that the magician specifically sought out young women from the audience and invited them over. An assistant reports that at some point she began asking the girls their ages and sent those under 18 back to their parents. Copperfield denies that he ever recruited women from the audience.
These are not the first allegations against David Copperfield: In 2007, a woman reported him to the police in Seattle for rape. The FBI investigated at the time, but dropped the case after two years. In 2018, she said she was drugged and sexually abused by Copperfield when she was 17. She met him at a modeling competition in 1988. Copperfield denies both allegations. His lawyers say he has never been charged with a crime.
David Copperfield still regularly performs his show in Las Vegas.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
