Magician David Blaine is reportedly under NYPD investigation for sexual assault allegations.
According to The Daily Beast, the Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department has taken statements from two different women, both of whom claim to have been sexually assaulted by Blaine.
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The NYPD reportedly declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation, but Chief Spokesman Phil Walzak did say in a statement, “The NYPD takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors.”
At least one of the women’s allegations may fall outside of the statute of limitations, as she stated that the alleged assault she endured took place in 1998.
This is not the first time that Blaine has been faced with sexual assault allegations, as back in 2017 two women came forward to state that he had assaulted them.
One of the women was a magazine editor who requested not to be publicly identified, but did issue a statement on what she says took place.
“In December 1998, I was sent to interview David Blaine…per his request we met at a Japanese restaurant on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village,” the woman said. “The restaurant was extremely loud, and my tape recorder wasn’t picking up the conversation even holding it very close to him.”
“A private detective friend of mine lived a few blocks away. I called and asked if he was home and, if so, could Blaine and I do the interview in his living room,” she went on to share. “He said he was there and invited us to use his space. I was hoping Blaine would be willing to do a few of his signature magic tricks for him.”
The editor shared that both Blaine and her friend drank bourbon while she only drank water while they were at the apartment together.
“I recall very clearly that Blaine was annoyed by this and tried to get me to have bourbon with them, but I demurred because I’ve never had a drink and I didn’t intend on starting that night,” she said. “David Blaine performed a few sleight of hand tricks which amused my friend to no end.”
“After probably about a half hour of tricks and chit-chat my friend retreated to his home office and left David Blaine and myself alone in the living room to conduct the interview,” she said. “I was frustrated because Blaine wasn’t giving me much that was useful. He was mumbling and slurring and increasingly just out of it. I can’t remember what he sent me to the kitchen for but it was either to get one or both of us a refill.”
At this point, she states that Blaine began to masturbate in front of her.
“When I returned to the living room, Blaine was still on the couch where I’d left him, but now his pants were open, his penis was in his hand, and he was masturbating,” she said. “I think the first thing I said was, ‘You need to put that away right now,’ and he asked something along the lines of, ‘Maybe you could give me a hand’ or ‘Don’t you want to give me a hand?’ To which I replied, ‘The guy in the next room thinks of me as family, and he’s packing. Are you insane?’ And the next thing out of his mouth was some version of ‘Just sโ my dโ for a few seconds.’ “
“I told him if he didn’t stop immediately I was going to scream and that he wouldn’t like the results,” she continued. “The next several minutes are such a blur but in short order he’d zipped or buttoned up, and I pulled on his arms to get him to his feet and I dragged him to the elevator in the hall.”
“Once down in the lobby, I pushed him out onto the sidewalk, I hailed a cab, then after one stopped I opened the back door, pushed him in (he was so completely out of it at this point), then I gave the taxi driver $20 and told him to take Blaine wherever he asked to go,” she said.
At this time, Blaine has not been charged with a crime regarding the new police investigation, and he has reportedly chosen not to issue a comment.