David Blaine was on a mission to conquer his next impossible feat, and it required ingesting kerosene.
To train for the dangerous act, the world-famous magician first practiced with water — plus some goldfish. With filmmaker Woody Allen on hand watching him, Blaine gulped down a glass of water with a pair of fish in it. He then spit out the water in quick bursts into a tub; hours of water-spewing later, the two goldfish he had swallowed also came back out of Blaine’s stomach into a fishbowl, seemingly alive and well.
The stunt appears to have been part of ABC’s 2013 special “David Blaine: Real or Magic.” But what Blaine never mentions is that he filmed that segment from inside of Jeffrey Epstein’s New York City townhouse.
That revelation was part of CNN’s broader examination of Blaine’s appearance throughout the Justice Department’s Epstein files, which show the two men exchanged dozens of messages, had numerous phone calls and planned for in-person meetings. And Blaine wasn’t the only prominent magician who turned up repeatedly in the files. David Copperfield was featured in numerous photos and messages released by the DOJ, and federal investigators examined his friendship with Epstein.
CNN was able to confirm that the water-and-fish-chugging portion of Blaine’s special was filmed inside of Epstein’s house by comparing the footage to pictures from inside the convicted child sex offender’s home: Distinctive decor photographed next to what looks like a tub including a bronze statue, candle holders and a brown vase, as well as photos of Epstein’s kitchen featuring white cabinets match the rooms that Blaine and Allen were in.
The files show that in April 2013, Epstein emailed Soon-Yi Previn, Allen’s wife, to tell her that Blaine “wanted to do the goldfish trick tonight for woody and film it.” While it’s not clear exactly when the shoot took place, later that year in October, Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff reminded Epstein in a message that Blaine wanted to come to Epstein’s house to “finish his woody Allen shoot.”
“He needs to film himself walking up your stairs and going into your bathroom.. he said it would take all of . 30 min tops and it would only be him and his camera man,” Groff wrote.
Epstein wrote back: “not until i am back.”
The Epstein-Blaine correspondence in the files occurred primarily between 2012 and 2016 — several years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor — though there was mention of Blaine attending dinner at Epstein’s townhouse going back to 2003. Meanwhile, FBI forms show that women told law enforcement about meeting Epstein through Blaine or Blaine through Epstein when they were younger.
Blaine and Copperfield have not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. Representatives for both men did not respond to CNN’s request for comment for this story. ABC also did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
‘I’m there if you need anything’
Blaine is one of many celebrities revealed in the Epstein files as having socialized with Epstein after his 2008 guilty plea. Their correspondence suggests they had a give-and-take friendship, with each seeming to benefit from the other’s access to elite individuals in the worlds of entertainment, politics and beyond.
Epstein frequently invited Blaine to social gatherings alongside Hollywood and tech bigwigs such as Allen and Bill Gates. Included in the Epstein files is a short video of Blaine appearing to show Gates a magic trick. As with most videos published by the DOJ, it did not come with any context.
Groff, Epstein’s assistant, wrote to a redacted individual in March 2015 about attending a dinner at Epstein’s house that evening. “David Blaine will be here along with another magician and performing some magic tricks!” Groff wrote.
More than once, Epstein seemed eager to connect Blaine with political figures.
“Any interest in visiting White House” Epstein texted Blaine in June of 2015. (It’s not clear whether Epstein ever visited the White House with Blaine or helped the magician set up a visit.) A few months later, in September, Epstein emailed the illusionist to inquire about his whereabouts, saying there would be “lots of world leaders at house week of 28th.” (It’s not clear from the files why Epstein said he would be hosting many global leaders at his house at that time, but the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly took place in New York that month.)
And at times, Epstein expressed interest in getting together with Blaine and “girls.” In the spring of 2013, for example, Epstein emailed an individual for thoughts on where a fun place would be to go with “jean luc boris, david blaine girls etc.” (Jean-Luc Brunel was a modeling agent and Epstein’s close associate accused of sex trafficking who was found dead in his Paris prison cell in 2022. It is not clear who “boris” refers to.)
In September 2015, Epstein emailed Blaine: “you misssed some amazing girls last night.” The age of the “girls” that Epstein was referring to in either instance is not clear.
The Epstein Library also contains at least two FBI “302” forms mentioning Blaine that detail interviews that law enforcement conducted in the summer of 2019, soon after Epstein died in prison. The first redacted subject stated that she was a teenager when she met Epstein and that she traveled with Epstein and his inner circle frequently in subsequent years. The woman said she eventually met Blaine at a party hosted by Epstein in New York.
The second redacted individual told the FBI that she was 18 when she met Blaine at a New York night club. “At some point, BLAINE introduced (redacted) to JEFFREY EPSTEIN,” the 302 says. “BLAINE took (redacted) to EPSTEIN’S New York mansion.” Following that meeting, this witness said she was contacted about going to Epstein’s private island for New Year’s, and that when she asked Blaine for permission, he said yes. That was the catalyst, she told law enforcement, for “dozens of interactions” with Epstein that would follow.
The Epstein files also show that Blaine wrote a reference letter for a woman’s visa to the US in May 2015 at Epstein’s request. (That woman’s name, as well as the person Epstein was discussing the matter with, are redacted in the files.)
By 2017, Blaine was facing a serious allegation of his own. A former model said Blaine had raped her at his London home in 2004, prompting an investigation by British authorities that was later dropped. Blaine denied those allegations at the time. Richard Kahn, Epstein’s longtime accountant, forwarded a Page Six story detailing the allegations to Epstein, writing: “Crazy world…”
Less than two weeks later, Epstein would reach out to his magician friend, saying in an email: “I’m there if you need anything.” It’s not clear whether Blaine wrote back to that message.
David Copperfield and intertwined investigations
Copperfield, frequently described as one of the highest-paid magicians in the world, also appears numerous times in the Epstein files.
There are multiple photos of Copperfield in the files, including one in which he is wearing a bathrobe and standing with four women. Copperfield is also featured in several photos with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, both wearing white robes. The images were among the photos that were taken on Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little Saint James.
There are also several pages of largely redacted photos in the Epstein files labeled as having been taken at “Musha Cay” — Copperfield’s own group of private islands in the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, several mentions of Copperfield in FBI 302 forms related to Epstein indicate that the two men’s social lives were closely intertwined — and garnered attention from law enforcement.
In one from 2007, a redacted individual said that she was offered tickets to a Copperfield show and that Epstein once let her speak to Copperfield on the phone when she was at Epstein’s home. In another, a woman whose name is redacted says she was in New York without Epstein, and that she was asked to be Copperfield’s assistant in a show and invited backstage. The redacted person “knew what was going to happen” and took her boyfriend with her. Epstein gave another underage girl tickets to a Copperfield show, according to another witness statement.
It’s not clear from the files when the two men’s relationship started, but there are multiple messages in the Epstein files that Copperfield left for Epstein dating to 2005.
By 2007, both men had trouble brewing. While Epstein was facing a sex trafficking investigation in Florida, Copperfield was being probed by the FBI for a sexual assault allegation in Washington state — and officials were examining their friendship. Copperfield denied the allegations at the time, and no charges were ever filed.
An internal FBI document from the Seattle field office to the Miami field office in 2007 says law enforcement wanted to interview witnesses to see if Copperfield and Epstein’s relationship “included illegal activities.” There was evidence from the Copperfield investigation of a “connection” between the two men, and investigators wanted “to determine if they both shared a predilection for minors,” the document says.
The document also shows the Seattle office wanted to interview two women who were already witnesses in a case about Epstein’s sexual misconduct. They were described as having been on Copperfield’s “business list,” which according to the memo appeared to be “a compilation of females that he targeted for sexual conquest.”
In 2008, after Epstein received a controversial plea deal in Florida, someone from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington inquired with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida about whether Epstein might be willing to talk about Copperfield. The Epstein files show that Washington investigators were frequently contacted by one of Epstein’s attorneys asking about Copperfield’s case.
The woman who accused Copperfield in 2007 was charged in 2010 with prostitution and making a false accusation in another case, and the federal probe of Copperfield was closed that year. In 2024, The Guardian published an expose in which 16 people accused Copperfield of assault or misconduct. A spokesperson told CNN at the time that “most of these historic accusations have been made before, and all of them are as false now as they were then.”
Last month, the illusionist announced he would end his Las Vegas residency after 25 years. Copperfield’s final show is April 30 at the MGM Grand. A spokesperson for the hotel declined to comment.