David Copperfield is facing new allegations of misconduct from more than a dozen women, at least half of whom say they were underage when he allegedly groomed or groped them.
On Wednesday, an exposé in The Guardian dropped online, detailing multiple stories from women who say the 67-year-old entertainer — who is the highest-paid magician in the world and is valued at $875 million, according to Forbes — had allegedly drugged at least three of them before sexual encounters, making them unable to consent.
Of the 16 women who talked with the outlet, three claimed that Copperfield groped them on stage with at least one saying her family observed the assault. The alleged incidents occurred over a span of four decades, ranging from the 1980s to 2014.
One woman, who spoke to The Guardian under a pseudonym, shared that Copperfield allegedly gave her his phone number when she was just 15 and would send her gifts — including a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day. She also shared that at the age of 16, he supposedly sent her a note reading, “In 2 years I will be back,” which she gave to the outlet.
That same woman — identified in the story as “Carla” — claimed that the 21-time Emmy Award winner was the first person she ever had sex with. The alleged sexual encounter happened after she turned 18 but a year prior, he had kissed her and “pushed her head towards his crotch.”
“I was not forced but I remember feeling awkward as I’d never done that before,” she said, describing an alleged incident in his limousine.
Another woman identified in the story as “Gillian” shared that after attending Copperfield’s show in Las Vegas in the 1990s and being picked to join him on stage, she and a female friend were invited to have a drink with the magician. Upon arrival at his private quarters, both women were supposedly given a glass of sambuca, which Gillian said made her feel “weird, physically weird.”
She described to the outlet going “fuzzy” and blacking out only to allegedly wake up naked in Copperfield’s bed with him having sex with both her and her friend.
“I am 56 years old now,” Gillian shared. “Never in my life have I had a time where I don’t consciously remember [a period of time] … I would never just say this to somebody if I didn’t truly, honest to God believe that I was drugged at that time.”
In a statement to ET released on Wednesday, a rep for the magician vehemently denied the allegations against him and said that they are considering taking legal action against any person spreading what they call “false and scurrilous allegations.”
“Everyone that knows David Copperfield will tell you that these recent allegations from one newspaper are the exact opposite of who David is. In fact, David has a record of risking his career to help protect women from powerful predators. Most of these historic accusations have been made before, and all of them are as false now as they were then,” the rep shared.
“David requested the ‘evidence’ upon which these false allegations claim to rely and this has not been provided. By contrast, whenever US law enforcement has looked into such matters, they have been investigated thoroughly and it has been found that there is simply no case to answer. The Guardian’s characterization is not who David is, and he continues to support anyone who has experienced any form of abuse or discrimination. The movement must succeed, but false accusations must stop for it to flourish.
The statement concludes, “David will be considering the position with his legal team and will take such steps as may be appropriate over these false and scurrilous allegations.”
Back in 2018, Copperfield took to social media to voice his support for the #MeToo movement amid the then-emerging Harvey Weinstein scandal, while also sharing his perspective on the situation as someone who claims to have been “falsely accused” of wrongdoing.
“We all want people who feel they’ve been victims of sexual misconduct to be empowered, and as a rule we should listen, so more will feel comfortable coming forward. It’s important,” he shared at the time. “But imagine what it’s like, believing in the movement, and having also been falsely accused publicly in the past.”
In 2007, Copperfield was publicly accused of luring a former beauty pageant model to his private island in the Bahamas and sexually assaulting her. The FBI investigated the claim but ultimately dropped the case.
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