NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Stage magician and performance artist David Blaine is the subject of an active investigation by the New York Police Department after he was accused of sexual assault by two women.
According to the Daily Beast, which first reported the news, Dermot F. Shea, the department’s chief of detectives confirmed the investigation but declined to elaborate.
In a separate statement to the New York Times, a spokesman said: “The N.Y.P.D. 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.”
Two years ago, Blaine was accused of raping a woman in London in 2004 but after an investigation, Scotland Yard declined to pursue the case.
In a statement to CelebrityAccess, a rep for Mr. Blaine said: “David denies the accusations that have been reported and he takes these allegations seriously. He intends to cooperate with any investigation.”
An accomplished stage magician, Blaine is also known for feats of endurance and death-defying trials, such as in 1999, when he was buried for a week in a plexiglass coffin, or in 2003 when he was suspended in a glass box over the Thames River in London for 44 days.
Mr. Blaine is currently scheduled for a series of live performances in the UK and Ireland, starting in 2019. Dates include 3 Arena in Dublin on June 8th; the O2 Apollo in Manchester on June 11th; and two shows at Eventim Apollo in London on June 18th and 19th.
