David Copperfield has insisted the #MeToo Movement is "crucial and long overdue" – just hours before he was accused of sexual assault by a model.
The 61-year-old illusionist took to his Twitter account to speak out about how his life has been "turned upside down" in the past after he has been accused of "fabricated, heinous acts".
In a statement released on his Twitter account, 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.
"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. Three years and hundreds of stories reported on a false claim investigated by the FBI, where the end result was that the accuser was caught by law enforcement making the same false claim about another man. The proof was on tape. The accuser was arrested and charged.
"I’ve lived with years of news reports about me being accused of fabricated, heinous acts, with few telling the story of the accuser getting arrested, and my innocence.
"Knowing that false accusers can negatively impact the believability of others and are a true disservice to those who have been victims of sexual misconduct, I didn’t draw attention to it."
David – known for his dramatic illusions, including levitating over the Grand Canyon and making the Statue of Liberty disappear – signed off the note by calling for people not to "rush to judgement", and hinted another accusation was to come by saying he was "weathering another storm".
He added: "So while I weather another storm, I want the movement to continue to flourish.
"Always listen, and consider everything carefully, but please for everyone’s sake don’t rush to judgment."
Just hours later, a report in which model Brittney Lewis claimed David drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1988 when she was 17 years old and had competed in a modelling competition in Japan, for which he was a judge, was published.
Brittney claims that soon after the event, David – who previously dated Claudia Schiffer – invited her to one of his shows in California and she went along, before which he took her shopping.
After the show, she alleges they went to the bar of the hotel they were staying at, in separate rooms, and she had barely touched her drink when she claims she saw him pouring something into her beverage.
She told The Wrap: "I asked, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘Oh, I’m just sharing.’ "
Brittney – who is now in her 40s – claims she had a few sips of her drink and blacked out, but recalled him being on top of her in her room.
She alleges: "I remember my clothes being taken off.
"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."
Brittney alleges the next morning he told her: "I didn’t enter you."
She said: "He wanted to me know that nothing happened because I was underage (sic).
"He said, ‘I didn’t enter you.’ There was no fluid but he could have had a condom."
She also alleges that before she left David made her sign a letter saying she was OK.
David Copperfield addresses sexual assault claims
