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NOTE: The next article incorporates content material that some readers might discover disturbing. Learn at your individual discretion.
Magician David Copperfield has been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 totally different girls, with greater than half alleging they have been underage after they interacted with the entertainer.
The claims have been made as a part of a years-long investigation by the Guardian newspaper’s U.S. bureau, which reported allegations relationship from the late Eighties to 2014.
The accusations in opposition to Copperfield, 67, vary from alleged cases of drugging, sexual assault and groping.
Lots of the girls declare Copperfield mentioned he would assist them set up a modelling or leisure profession. Greater than half of the accusers mentioned they met Copperfield at one in every of his exhibits.
Copperfield has denied all of the allegations in opposition to him. Attorneys for the illusionist instructed the Guardian that Copperfield “by no means acted inappropriately with anybody, not to mention anybody underage.” His attorneys keep the magician is somebody who shows “kindness, shyness and remedy of women and men with respect.”
The attorneys mentioned it was “not solely fully false but additionally totally implausible” that Copperfield ever touched a girl inappropriately.
As for allegations of drugging girls, Copperfield’s attorneys mentioned medication are “not part of his world.”
Copperfield has by no means been charged with against the law, his attorneys famous.
One girl included within the Guardian’s investigation, Brittney Lewis, made her accusations in opposition to Copperfield public in 2018. She mentioned he drugged her in 1988, when she was 17 years previous, then sexually assaulted her.
The magician denied Lewis’ allegations in 2018 when she mentioned them publicly.
Now, two extra unnamed girls instructed the Guardian they have been additionally drugged and sexually assaulted by Copperfield. The ladies, who’re associates, mentioned they met Copperfield for drinks after one in every of his exhibits in 1993. They instructed the newspaper they have been unable to consent to intercourse with him and “blacked out” in his resort room.
4 different girls mentioned Copperfield groped them or that they have been made to the touch him in a sexual method throughout his stage performances. Three of the 4 girls have been youngsters on the time of the alleged incidents. One girl mentioned she was 15 years previous when Copperfield allegedly touched her breasts on stage with out consent, all whereas her household watched from the viewers.
A special, nameless girl instructed the Guardian she was additionally 15 when she met Copperfield at a present in 1991. The pair stored involved for years, however the girl now says she was “groomed” by the illusionist, who as soon as despatched her a card when she was 16 that learn, “In 2 years I shall be again.” The girl mentioned she and Copperfield had consensual intercourse when she was 18, and that it was her first time.
Copperfield’s attorneys denied he groomed the accuser and mentioned she and Copperfield had a consensual relationship for 4 years.
One groping allegation in opposition to Copperfield has Canadian roots, stemming from a present in Hamilton, Ont. in 1996. The accuser mentioned she was 17 when Copperfield invited her on stage. He allegedly touched her inappropriately “between the anus and the vagina” in entrance of the gang. She filed a police grievance in 2018.
One other girl, 38-year-old Fallon Thornton, reported Copperfield to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division after he allegedly squeezed her breast when she got here on stage throughout a 2014 efficiency at MGM Grand casino-hotel. The Guardian obtained police information for the alleged incident, which famous the case was closed as a consequence of “inadequate proof.”
These 16 girls will not be the primary to accuse Copperfield of sexual misconduct — cases which his attorneys known as “quite a few false claims” already in opposition to him.
The Guardian mentioned their intensive reporting drew on interviews with greater than 100 individuals, in addition to courtroom and police information.
In an announcement to International Information, a consultant for Copperfield maintained his innocence.
“Everybody that is aware of David Copperfield will let you know that these current allegations from one newspaper are the precise reverse of who David is. The truth is, David has a document of risking his profession to assist shield girls from highly effective predators,” the assertion reads. “Most of those historic accusations have been made earlier than, and all of them are as false now as they have been then. David requested the ‘proof’ upon which these false allegations declare to rely and this has not been supplied. In contrast, each time US legislation enforcement has regarded into such issues, they’ve been investigated totally and it has been discovered that there’s merely no case to reply.”
The assertion continues: “The Guardian’s characterization just isn’t who David is, and he continues to help anybody who has skilled any type of abuse or discrimination. The motion should succeed, however false accusations should cease for it to flourish. David shall be contemplating the place along with his authorized staff and can take such steps as could also be acceptable over these false and scurrilous allegations.”
In January, Copperfield’s identify was revealed in paperwork associated to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, amongst a number of different high-profile people. Considered one of Epstein’s victims named Copperfield in a 2016 deposition associated to a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Ghislaine Maxwell and mentioned she met the magician when he carried out methods at a dinner.
The presence of Copperfield’s identify in Epstein-related paperwork doesn’t straight imply he has dedicated against the law. His attorneys mentioned Copperfield had “no information or perception that something improper was happening” with Epstein.
“Like the remainder of the world, he discovered about it from the press,” his attorneys mentioned of Epstein’s crimes, including that Copperfield didn’t commonly socialize with Epstein.
For those who or somebody you already know is experiencing abuse or is concerned in an abusive scenario, please go to the Canadian Useful resource Centre for Victims of Crime for assist. They’re additionally reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
© 2024 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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