16 Women Accuse Copperfield of Sex Assault, Impropriety

David Copperfield is facing allegations of sex assault, and not for the first time. But as the Guardian reports, the magnitude this time is unprecedented. Sixteen women are now accusing the famed illusionist of acts ranging from groping them onstage to drugging them and having sex with them when they were incapable of giving consent—and more than half tell the Guardian they were minors at the time. The allegations go back to the late 1980s, with the most recent being 2014.

• Allegations, I: Three women say he drugged them before having sex with them. One, Brittney Lewis, publicly accused him in 2018 of a 1988 assault when she was 17. Another says she and a friend were drugged in 1993 before Copperfield had sex with both.

• Allegations, II: Four others say Copperfield groped them onstage or made them touch him sexually. Three were teenagers; Fallon Thornton, 38, says she reported a 2014 incident at the MGM Grand to police that was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.
• Copperfield's response: His lawyers tell the Guardian that he has "never acted inappropriately with anyone, let alone anyone underage." They describe him as a proponent of the #MeToo movement and cite his "kindness, shyness, and treatment of men and women with respect."
• The investigation: The Guardian interviewed more than 100 people and reviewed police and court records.

(Read the full Guardian report.)