Multiple women are accusing magician David Copperfield of drugging, grooming, assault, groping, and other misconduct. A Guardian U.S. investigation found 16 women alleging misconduct, spanning from the 1980s to 2014; more than half were under age 18 at the time. Lawyers for Copperfield, who is considered one of the highest-earning illusionists of all time, denied all the allegations, telling The Guardian he “never, ever acted inappropriately with anyone, let alone anyone underage.” In a statement, a representative for Copperfield additionally told Vulture, “Everyone who knows David Copperfield will tell you that these recent allegations from one newspaper are the exact opposite of who David is,” adding that Copperfield would be considering legal action “over these false and scurrilous allegations.”
In the report, one woman claims Copperfield drugged her and her friend after inviting them to his room at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and had sex with them when they could not consent. Her allegation comes on top of a model who previously accused Copperfield of drugging and assaulting her when she was 17, which Copperfield also denied. Multiple other women said they met Copperfield at shows when they were under 18, and he continued to stay in touch with them afterward. One woman even said Copperfield sent her a note reading, “In 2 years I will be back” when she was 16. She later had sex with him when she turned 18 and began a relationship she calls “consensual” with “a huge power and financial imbalance.” Some of Copperfield’s former assistants also confirmed he was interested in young women and would target them at shows.
Other women, some underage, claim Copperfield groped them onstage while performing tricks. One, Fallon Thornton, filed a police report in Las Vegas in January 2014, after claiming Copperfield grabbed her breast onstage at the MGM Grand, where he still performs today. The case was later dismissed for a lack of evidence, but Thornton told The Guardian, “I don’t think it was taken seriously.”
Copperfield has previously denied similar allegations against him as far back as 2007. After a woman, Lacey Carroll, went to Seattle police accusing Copperfield of raping her on his private island, Copperfield accused Carroll of trying to extort him. Her accusations led to an FBI investigation that was eventually dropped in 2009. Copperfield’s lawyers specifically denied several accusations to The Guardian and stated all the allegations are “false and entirely without foundation.”
This post has been updated with a statement from Copperfield’s representative.