Former aspiring model Brittney Lewis accuses the magician of drugging and sexually assaulting her after she competed in a modeling contest in which Copperfield was a judge.
- Jan 25, 2018
AceShowbiz - David Copperfield is the latest celebrity dragged into sexual assault scandal. Former aspiring model Brittney Lewis, who dreamt of becoming the next Elle Macpherson, claims the magician drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old.
Lewis tells TheWrap that she met Copperfield in September 1998 in Atami, Japan, where she competed in the "Look of the Year" modeling contest in which he was serving as a judge. Lewis claims after she returned home to Utah, Copperfield invited her to visit him for one of his shows in California.
Lewis came to the show after receiving permission from her grandmother Patricia Burton, so Burton has confirmed. After the show, Copperfield allegedly took Lewis to a bar where Lewis noticed he poured something into her glass. "I asked, 'What are you doing?' and he said, 'Oh, I'm just sharing,' " she tells TheWrap.
Lewis says she blacked out after taking a few sips and the rest is hazy, but she remembers him in her hotel room in a black robe, kissing her while he lay on top of her. "I remember my clothes being taken off," she recalls. "He was kissing my face and then I remember him starting to go down on my body with his face, and then, as soon as he started going down, I just completely blacked out."
The next morning, Lewis woke up feeling sick and nauseated. She claims that Copperfield re-entered her room to say that "nothing happened because I was underage." Copperfield later suggested that she went back that day, cutting her trip short by a few days.
Before she left, Copperfield allegedly made Lewis write a letter saying she was okay. "My therapist later told me that he made me write a contract to keep me quiet," she says.
A few months later, Copperfield's assistants called her to invite her to his show in Utah, but Lewis turned it down.
Lewis says she reported the incident to the FBI in 2007. She also stresses that she is not seeking money from the magician or others.
Copperfield's lawyer, publicist and manager have not responded to the allegations, but the magician has preemptively released a statement in support of the Me Too movement. He wrote, "The #MeToo movement is crucial and long overdue. We all want people who feel they've been victims of sexual misconduct to be empowered, and as a rule we should listen, so more will feel comfortable coming forward. It's important."
He added, "But imagine what it's like, believing in the movement, and having also been falsely accused publicly in the past. To have your life and your family's life turned upside down." Seemingly referring to the new allegations about to surface in TheWrap, he asked people to "Always listen, and consider everything carefully, but please, for everyone's sake, don't rush to judgment."
— David Copperfield (@D_Copperfield) January 24, 2018
