David Copperfield

David Copperfield is an American stage magician and illusionist, born in 1956. He is described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history, and over a career spanning more than four decades he has won 21 Emmy Awards, holds multiple Guinness World Records, and is known for large-scale illusions such as appearing to make the Statue of Liberty disappear.

Copperfield’s name appears in reporting and documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein. According to reporting on the released files, phone-message pads from 2005 indicated that Copperfield left messages for Epstein, and an October 2007 email described him as “Epstein’s favorite cohort” and stated that backstage passes to his performances were given as gifts to girls. The records also include deposition testimony in which Johanna Sjoberg said she attended a 2004 dinner at Epstein’s home where Copperfield performed magic tricks, as well as photographs of Copperfield with Ghislaine Maxwell. The Daily Beast reported that Sjoberg met Copperfield at a dinner party at Epstein’s home in 2004. According to Yahoo’s reporting, his name appeared in a batch of so-called Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department, and the same article references an FBI characterization of a “very close relationship” between the two men.

Copperfield has, through his attorneys, disputed the characterization of his association with Epstein. The Daily Beast quoted his attorneys as saying the reporting was “a total distortion of the facts” and that “David and Jeffrey Epstein were, at most, acquaintances” who “only ever met on a handful of occasions.” Yahoo reported a further statement from his attorneys that “our client did not know about Epstein’s horrific crimes” and that, “like the rest of the world, he learned about it from the press.” Reporting on the files likewise records that Copperfield denied the friendship.

Is David Copperfield in the Epstein files?

Yes. Based on the sources reviewed for this profile, David Copperfield is named in reporting and documents associated with the Jeffrey Epstein files — including 2005 message pads, an October 2007 email, deposition testimony describing a 2004 dinner, and photographs with Ghislaine Maxwell, as reported by outlets including The Daily Beast and Yahoo. Copperfield’s attorneys have said he and Epstein were “at most, acquaintances” and that he did not know about Epstein’s crimes. Being named in the files is not evidence of any crime or wrongdoing; people appear in these documents in many contexts, including correspondence, scheduling, social events, and photographs.

Evidence

This passage comes from a 2007 email surfaced in the released files, with our annotation connecting it to what this profile states.

Read the originals: DOJ Epstein Files ↗

Documents

Primary-source records that name or reference David Copperfield. Inclusion in these documents is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing; Copperfield’s attorneys say he and Epstein were “at most, acquaintances,” and he has not been charged with any crime.

• Giuffre v. Maxwell — unsealed court records (Jan. 2024) — Copperfield is referenced repeatedly in this civil case (U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:15-cv-07433). Johanna Sjoberg’s deposition describes a dinner at Epstein’s home at which Copperfield was present and at which Sjoberg said he “questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls”; he is also raised in other depositions and motions, where witnesses were questioned about him.