Copperfield Lawsuit Materializes

David Copperfield is being sued by promoters in Indonesia and Malaysia who claim the magician backed out of performances because of an FBI investigation.

Copperfield is accused of sexual misconduct by a Seattle woman, triggering an FBI raid of Copperfield’s warehouse in Las Vegas, where he keeps memorabilia and rehearses his shows. Sources told the Seattle Times FBI agents seized a memory chip from a video camera, a computer hard drive and $2 million in cash.

Copperfield attorney David Chesnoff denied the allegations of sexual misconduct "in the strongest possible terms." The woman claims the sexual misconduct took place in the Bahamas, where Copperfield has an estate.

The woman registered her complaint with Seattle police, who contacted the FBI because the alleged crime took place outside the country.

Copperfield canceled performances scheduled in Asia in late October and early November, prompting two promoters, Viva Art International and MAZ Concerts, to sue for undisclosed amounts to return money in escrow.

The promoters claim Copperfield demanded additional money just prior to the cancellation, which Viva Art and MAZ paid. Copperfield’s camp claims the promoters breached their contract and the cancellations have nothing to do with the investigation.

Meanwhile, gossip Web site TMZ.com alleges Copperfield uses his act to pick up women in a way that would make "Diamond" David Lee Roth jealous.

According to an unnamed source, when Copperfield selects women he likes from the audience, he will give stagehands code words like "mama" and "secrecy." The women are then asked if they would be interested in being part of the act in other cities.

They are then allegedly interviewed on videotape and asked questions like, "Where do you like to vacation?" – apparently in hopes they will respond "the Bahamas."