The US edition of The Guardian has published an in-depth investigation revealing incidents that took place between the 1980s and 2014

The famous American magician David Copperfield has been accused of sexual violence by sixteen women, some of whom were minors at the time, according to a report published on Wednesday 15 May by the British newspaper The Guardian. Three of the women claim that the magician drugged them before having sex, which they were unable to consent to.

The Guardian’s US edition conducted an extensive investigation, speaking to more than 100 people and examining police and court records on incidents ranging from the late 1980s to 2014. Lawyers for Copperfield, 67, told the newspaper that their client denied any wrongdoing and that he had ‘never behaved inappropriately with anyone, let alone a minor’.

Already charged in 2018

The illusionist, famous for making the Statue of Liberty disappear and for his relationship with German model Claudia Schiffer in the 1990s, had already been accused in 2018 of sexual assault by former American model Brittney Lewis. She also gave evidence to the Guardian, claiming to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by Copperfield three decades earlier, when she was a minor. Copperfield denied the allegations at the time.

Other women interviewed by The Guardian accused the magician of touching them on stage during his shows. Another woman, speaking under a pseudonym, said she met Copperfield when she was 15. Over the years, he would call her late at night and send her gifts, which she regards as a form of ‘grooming’. When she was 18, they had a consensual sexual relationship. Copperfield’s lawyers strongly denied any suggestion of grooming or misconduct.