Magician David Copperfield accused of sexual harassment by 16 women

Magician David Copperfield has been accused of sexual harassment by 16 women.

In an exposé published on Wednesday by the Guardianmany of the women claimed they were underage at the time, and three claimed they were under the influence of drugs.

All the alleged incidents took place between the late 1980s and 2014, and more than half of the women – several preferred to remain anonymous – said they had met the performer while he was performing.

Three women alleged that Copperfield groped them on stage during live performances. In another incident, a woman claimed Copperfield took her hand and placed it on his butt, forcing her to squeeze it.

Five women alleged that Copperfield spoke to them and their families on the phone when he called their landline numbers.

Through his lawyers, Copperfield, now 67, has denied all allegations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior, insisting that he has “never, ever acted inappropriately towards anyone, let alone any minor.”

His lawyers called the claims “false and completely baseless,” adding that his inappropriate behavior towards women “is the opposite of everything he stands for and works hard to achieve.”

Shortly after The Guardian approached Copperfield with questions about the allegations, two women interviewed by the website using their real names said they wanted their claims removed from the article.

At the time of the alleged incident, one of the women was 15 years old; the other was about 20 years old.

Asked if Copperfield had ever offered or paid a settlement to anyone who accused him of sexual misconduct, his lawyers told The Guardian that the magician had “no intention of indulging in what he considers a fishing expedition by your journalists.” .

“Carla” said she met Copperfield in 1991 after she was called to attend one of his shows in Georgia. She was only 16 years old then. She felt like he had “groomed” her by giving her a Valentine’s Day gift with a note attached that read, “I’ll be back in 2 years.”

He allegedly kept his promise, and Carla claimed that Copperfield later took her oral and penetrative virginity.

“I was a young schoolgirl infatuated with a famous man and I think he used it to his advantage,” she said. “Why would he contact me all these years if he wasn’t planning on throwing himself at me as soon as I turned 18?”

Copperfield’s lawyers denied he was caring for Carla and said they had a “consensual relationship.”

“Lily,” who was 14 or 15 years old at the time, told The Guardian that the magician groped her breasts on stage while performing a trick in the presence of her father and sister, who confirmed the story and said they looked at her in horror.

“He told me to turn around and he was standing behind me with his arms around me and we were both holding the rope… in front,” Lily recalled.

“While I was holding the rope, his forearms were moving up and down my chest, quite forcefully… as he spoke and did the trick. Somehow I disconnected and froze. I felt really disgusting and embarrassed.”

Copperfield’s lawyers denied that the “rope trick” involved “inappropriate touching” and claimed it was performed “without any complaint.”

“Gillian” was in her twenties when she attended one of Copperfield’s performances at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. After Gillian was chosen to take part in a trick on stage, one of the magician’s assistants asked her and her friend if they would join him for a drink after his next performance.

Later that evening, Gillian claimed that she and her friend were taken to Copperfield’s hotel suite and were each given a small glass of sambuca. Shortly afterwards, Gillian stated that she felt “weird, physically weird”.

“From that point on, everything was just a blur… I literally blacked out for a while, which I don’t do,” she said, claiming she remembered “snippets” of Copperfield having sex with her and her friend in his bed.

“I’m 56 now,” Gillian told the Guardian. “I have never had a moment in my life when I consciously didn’t remember [a period of time] […]I would never have told anyone this if I didn’t really, honestly, believe before God that I was on drugs at the time.”

Copperfield’s lawyers denied Gillian’s allegations and said that “no claim or complaint was ever made against him at Caesars Palace – where he had residency at the time – or anywhere else in relation to any such alleged misconduct.” His lawyers added that drugs “are not part of his world.”

In 1996, “Olivia” from the United Kingdom was 17 years old when she went to a performance in Copperfield, Ontario, with her mother and brother. She told the Guardian that she was chosen to take part in the on-stage trick and that the performer put his arm around her, holding her hand.

She claimed he then ran his fingers “between my legs from behind” and pulled upwards, before “feeling” her clothes in the “area between my anus and vagina.” She said she “completely froze” and remembered a woman in the front row saying to another woman, “Did he touch her?”

Olivia reported the alleged sexual assault to cops in London, who passed the case on to Hamilton police, who told The Guardian that “the file has been closed and may be reopened at a later date.”

In 2006, when Katie Ring was 16, she and her family attended a performance of Copperfield at the MGM Grand in Vegas. After the magician selected her to take part in the trick, he allegedly instructed her to “grab my ass.” He then allegedly placed her hand on his butt and told her to “squeeze his buttock” before saying: “It’s David Copperfield, not David Cop-a-feel!”

He later performed a trick in which he pretended to “impregnate” Ring, and a sonogram of “their baby” appeared on the screen.

Copperfield’s lawyers denied the allegations made to the Guardian and said the use of the term “Cop-a-feel” was not “predatory or malicious and has not been part of our client’s behavior for many years.”

In 2014, 28-year-old Fallon Thornton was tapped to join Copperfield on the MGM stage. She claimed that as he led her to the stage, he held her hand and “with his other hand he felt my breast. Like I was fully compressed.

“I was shocked and in disbelief…did he really do that in front of people? Has anyone seen this?” she told the Guardian, adding that she reported the alleged incident to the resort and casino. She said that MGM representatives were “receptive” at first, but she ultimately learned “little from them.”

Thornton also reported the alleged incident to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which allegedly refused to show her a video it allegedly had of the performance. Las Vegas police told the Guardian that Thornton’s case was closed in 2014 due to “insufficient evidence.”

Copperfield’s lawyers said it was “untenable” that he groped the woman in front of a live audience.

Nicole Ehinger was 17 years old when she attended a show in Copperfield, Indiana in 1992. After the performance, the magician took her to a nightclub, where he allegedly touched her leg at least 10 times and rubbed her leg.

Copperfield’s lawyers denied Ehinger’s claims to the Guardian and added: “By law, we note that in the state of Indiana the age of consent is 16.”

Six former Copperfield employees working from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s told the Guardian that he often asked his assistants to approach attractive young women in the audience and invite them on stage or join him after his performances.

Former employees alleged that the magician regularly took women to his limousine, hotel room or penthouse.

However, several other former employees told the outlet that they never saw any indication that their boss engaged in sexual misconduct.

After the exposé was published, a representative for Copperfield told Page Six in a statement: “Anyone who knows David Copperfield will tell you that these recent allegations made by a newspaper are the exact opposite of who David is. In fact, David risked his career to 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 statement continued. “David requested “evidence” on which these false allegations were allegedly based, and it was not provided. On the other hand, whenever U.S. law enforcement has handled such cases, they have been thoroughly investigated and found that there is simply no case to answer.”

The statement concluded: “The Guardian is not a reflection of who David is and he continues to support anyone who has experienced any form of abuse or discrimination. The movement must succeed, but for it to grow, false accusations must be put to an end. “David will consider this position with his legal team and will take appropriate action regarding these false and abusive allegations.”

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Violence Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.