Popular magician David Blaine, who wows audiences with his sleight-of-hand and illusion work, has been accused of raping a U.K. model in 2004.
Natasha Prince, now 34, says that Blaine attacked her at his residence when she was 21 years old.
Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, is now investigating. U.S. publication The Daily Beast, which broke the story, and the BBC, among other media outlets, have reviewed emails that request Blaine to travel to Britain for interviews about the matter.
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Blaine, 44, “vehemently denies” the allegations and will “fully co-operate” with the police inquiry, confirmed his lawyer, Marty Singer.
“My client vehemently denies that he raped or sexually assaulted any woman, ever, and he specifically denies raping a woman in 2004,” said Singer in a statement. (“This would include Natasha Prince,” Singer said later in an add-on statement.) “If, in fact, there is any police investigation, my client will fully co-operate because he has nothing to hide.”
Prince initially contacted police last October, and reported the allegation in November of 2016.
“Officers from the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command are investigating an allegation of rape,” Scotland Yard said in a statement. “The allegation was reported to police on 17 November 2016 by a woman who alleged she was raped at an address in Chelsea in June or July 2004 when she was aged 21. There have been no arrests at this stage and enquiries continue.”
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Prince says she tried really hard to “block it out” over the years, but she “carried this awful feeling” with her.
She alleges that she first met Blaine at a nightclub and they chatted. Then, soon afterwards, he allegedly invited her over to his house, even sending a car to come pick her up.
After some talking, Prince claims that Blaine asked her into the bedroom and eventually raped her. Afterwards, she alleges, it was like nothing ever happened.
“When I woke up, I was very relaxed — very stoned,” she recounted. “The lights were on, and I was naked. He was shirtless at the end of the bed. And when I looked at him, he said, ‘You have really nice t***’… he was just folding clothes, walking around. He didn’t kiss me or anything.”
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Prince said that she’s been suffering flashbacks of the alleged incident “for years.”
You can read the entirety of Prince’s harrowing account over at The Daily Beast.
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