Award-winning magician David Copperfield is being sued by a New York City condo board for allegedly destroying his $7 million penthouse by abandoning it and leaving it to “devolve into a state of utter disrepair.”
Copperfield, once described by Forbes as the “most commercially successful magician in history” after grossing more than a billion dollars over the course of his entertainment career, is being accused of allowing his former home at Galleria Condominium to decay to the point where it’s causing millions of dollars in damage to the building, Fox Business reported.
“Copperfield’s motivation to trash his own apartment and permit it to decay is entirely unclear, especially when he still owns the Unit and is marketing it for sale,” the lawsuit, obtained by the outlet, stated. “On a cosmetic level, the state of Copperfield’s Unit plainly violates the requirements under the Condominium’s By-Laws that all units be kept in a ‘first-class condition’ and a ‘good state of preservation and cleanliness.’ However, the level of dilapidation and decay in Copperfield’s Unit far exceeds a purely cosmetic issue.”
According to the condominium board, Copperfield has not lived in the apartment since around 2018, leaving it with “unrepaired water damage that is so severe that it presents risks to the ‘concrete structure of the building.'”
The lawsuit also alleged that the unit is suffering from mold and mildew growth, which can endanger other people in the building.
Copperfield responded to the allegations via a statement from a representative to Fox Business, saying, “This is a simple insurance claim. The photographs included in the lawsuit don’t reflect the current state of the apartment. This is a court matter and will be handled in court.”
The lawsuit also stated that Copperfield has failed to take the hazards seriously, only making cosmetic repairs instead of attempting to fix the more pressing issues.
The magician is allegedly “leaving the serious subsurface problems in his Unit to worsen — to the detriment of the health, safety, and well-being of his fellow unit owners.”
$2.5 million in damages was allegedly caused by a neglected valve in the unit as well.
“In typical fashion, Copperfield refuses to confront the consequences of his actions and denies all responsibility for the damage he has caused to the building and his former neighbors,” the lawsuit states. “Thus, the Board brings this action for specific performance — to compel Copperfield to repair the dangerous, unacceptable, and unsanitary conditions in the Unit — and for monetary damages resulting from the failed valve.”
The board added that the equipment “does not service the rest of the building,” and said:
So it stands to reason that it should be (and, contractually, is) the owner of the Unit’s obligation to repair and maintain. And because of the Unit’s position at the top of the Condominium, maintenance of the Mechanical Equipment is not only critical to ensure the standard of living within the Unit itself, but it is also paramount to ensure the safety of the Condominium’s other units and common elements.
While Copperfield transferred the condo’s ownership to a Nevada corporation called Sky Tower, the board stated that the magician is the “President, Secretary, Treasurer, and sole Director” of the entity, claiming that it is “nothing more than an instrumentality of Copperfield’s and his alter ego.”
“The distinction between Sky Tower and Copperfield is no less illusory than one of Copperfield’s magic tricks,” the lawsuit said. “Sky Tower conducts no business, collects no rents, and participates in no form of commerce. To the extent that it has separate accounts, Copperfield — individually — is the sole source of those funds.”
“Copperfield has refused to accept any responsibility for the damage he has caused to the Condominium,” the board argued, adding that the full extent of the damages caused by the neglect is unknown because the “level of decay that Copperfield has permitted to occur in his Unit has likely penetrated to a subsurface level.”
