16 women accuse David Copperfield of sexually abusive behavior. According to a media report, some of them were minors at the time of the incidents. The US magician's lawyers deny the allegations.
US magician David Copperfield is facing multiple allegations of sexual assault. There are said to have been several such incidents over a period of several decades, as the US edition of the British Guardian reports.
A total of 16 women accuse the 67-year-old of being abusive. More than half said they were teenagers at the time of the attacks. Three women report that they were drugged before sex.
In its report, the Guardian cites interviews with more than a hundred people as well as police and court records. The allegations relate to a period from the late 1980s to 2014. All women stated that they met Copperfield through his work.
Not the first accusations
The first allegations against the magician were made in 2018. At that time, a woman named Brittney Lewis stated that Copperfield had drugged her 30 years earlier and then performed sexual acts on her.
Lewis is also quoted in the new report. The Guardian says it has spoken to another woman who made similar allegations but did not want to be named. She said that Copperfield drugged her and a friend and then performed sexual acts on both women.
A woman, quoted in the Guardian report under a pseudonym, said she first met the magician after one of his shows. She was 15 at the time. He later called her late at night and sent her gifts. At the age of 18, she then had consensual sex with Copperfield.
Copperfield's lawyers deny allegations
Copperfield's lawyers denied all allegations. They told the Guardian that Copperfield “never behaved inappropriately towards anyone, let alone minors.” They also pointed out that none of the women ever filed a complaint.
Copperfield “firmly denies any suggestion of grooming or other inappropriate behavior.” Grooming refers to the targeted approach of minors and the attempt to gradually gain their trust in order to later initiate sexual contact – often through manipulation. Copperfield's lawyers have not yet responded to a request from the AFP news agency.
