David Copperfield is accused of sexual misconduct by 16 women

After previous sexual assault allegations, magician David Copperfield is facing a flood of new sexual misconduct allegations.

Copperfield is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation by the US edition of the Guardian, published on Wednesday. The investigation is examining damning allegations from numerous women who claim the famous illusionist sexually assaulted them or behaved inappropriately during their interactions.

In total, 16 women have come forward and accused Copperfield of sexual abuse and lewd behavior, including grooming, groping, drugging and rape. Many of the women are identified during the investigation using pseudonyms to protect their identities.

Copperfield’s lawyers have denied the women’s allegations, saying Copperfield has “never acted inappropriately with anyone, let alone minors.”

A representative for Copperfield said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY that the allegations against the magician are “the exact opposite of who David is.”

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“David has a proven track record of risking his career to protect women from powerful predators,” the statement said. “Most of these historical allegations have been made before and all are as false today as they were then. David demanded the ‘evidence’ on which these false accusations were supposedly based, and it was not provided.”

“In contrast, U.S. law enforcement agencies that have dealt with such matters have been thoroughly investigated and determined that there is simply no case to respond to.”

Woman claims David Copperfield groomed her as a teenager

Carla, who claims she was 15 when she met Copperfield at one of his shows in 1991, said she was approached by the magician after appearing briefly as a special guest at his performance. Although Carla was a minor at the time, she claims Copperfield took her phone number and promised to take the teenager to dinner when she turned 18.

Copperfield allegedly kept in touch with Carla by sending the young woman notes and gifts and frequently calling her family home. After attending another performance of Copperfield when she was 17, Carla claimed the magician invited her into his limousine, where he allegedly kissed the teenager and “shoved her head toward his crotch, which she believed meant that she should perform oral sex on him”.

The woman claims she later had “penetrative sex” with Copperfield, then 37, after she turned 18. While she describes their relationship as “amicable,” Carla also noted the “power and financial imbalance” between them.

“I was a young schoolgirl who fell in love with a famous man and I think he used that to his advantage,” Carla told the Guardian. “Why would he continue to reach out to me all these years if he didn’t plan to overthrow me as soon as I turned 18?”

Copperfield’s lawyers denied the sexual harassment allegation to the Guardian, calling his relationship with Carla “a completely legal, four-year consensual relationship 30 years ago.”

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Woman claims David Copperfield drugged and raped her after Las Vegas show

Gillian claims she met Copperfield in the early 1990s when she was invited to appear on stage with the illusionist during a performance at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After the performance, Gillian and a friend were waiting in line for Copperfield’s autograph when the magician’s assistant approached them and asked if they wanted to have a drink with Copperfield after his next performance.

The women were allegedly invited to Copperfield’s hotel suite, where they were each given a glass of Sambuca to drink. However, after drinking the drink, Gillian claimed she felt “physically weird” and subsequently “blacked out for a while”.

Gillian, who was in her 20s at the time of the alleged incident, says she remembers “parts” of Copperfield sexually abusing her and her friend while they lay in the wizard’s bed.

“I’m 56 years old now,” Gillian told The Guardian. “Never in my life have I had a time that I don’t consciously remember (a period of time). … I would never just say that to anyone if I didn’t really, honestly to God, believe that I was drugged in the process.”

The magician’s lawyers told The Guardian: “No such claims or complaints were ever made against him at Caesars Palace – where he was then residing – or elsewhere in connection with such alleged misconduct.” They added that drugs “are not “part of his world.”

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David Copperfield is accused of groping a teenager on stage during his performance

Lily, who attended a performance of Copperfield around 1993, said she was chosen to perform a magic trick on stage with the illusionist. The routine required Copperfield to wrap his arms around Lily – who was 14 or 15 at the time – while they both held on to a rope.

While holding the rope, the woman claimed that Copperfield’s forearms were “going up and down on my chest pretty hard… while he was talking and doing the trick.”

“I was kind of distracted and I froze,” Lily told The Guardian. “I felt really disgusting and embarrassed.”

Copperfield’s lawyers denied to the Guardian that the “rope trick” described by Lily involved any “unlawful touching.”

“This trick was performed over many years in front of tens of millions of people, with tens of thousands of spectators on stage, not to mention cameras and security from every angle, without ever a complaint being made,” the lawyers said.

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David Copperfield was previously accused of sexual assault

Copperfield became the subject of a two-year investigation by the FBI after a woman named Lacey Carroll claimed in 2007 that the wizard had raped her on his private island, according to The Guardian. The investigation was closed in 2009 without much explanation.

According to People Magazine and The Associated Press (via Today.com), Caroll also dropped her sexual assault lawsuit against Copperfield. In a statement at the time, Caroll said Copperfield’s team subjected her to “intense scrutiny and constant surveillance” while her family, friends and colleagues were besieged with subpoenas and demands for personal information.

Another woman named Brittney Lewis claimed she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Copperfield in 1988 when she was a 17-year-old aspiring model, The Wrap reported in 2018. The alleged assault occurred after she entered a modeling competition had, in which Copperfield attended a judge.

Copperfield, then 32, reportedly invited Lewis to a show in California and later put something in her drink at a bar. Lewis said she passed out, but the woman remembers him removing her clothes and performing sexual acts on her in a hotel room.

Lewis said she reported her claims to the FBI in 2007 and did not seek a financial settlement.

Contributor: Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers survivors and their families free, confidential support 24/7 in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN .org en Español RAINN.org/es.

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