David Copperfield has been hit with a lawsuit seeking more than $2.5 million to repair damage to a New York apartment building he owns.
In the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday, Aug. 6, the board of directors of the Galleria Condominiums — a luxury high-rise located on East 57th Street — alleges that the magician “trashed” his unit in the building before leaving in 2018.
Copperfield, 67, first bought the apartment in New York in 1997 before transferring ownership the following year to Sky Tower, a Nevada shell company he owns, according to the suit.
The board claims the star left the “once pristine” apartment — the building’s largest, located on the 54th floor — in such a “complete state of disrepair” that $2.5 million in damages is required to repair the unit, as well as neighboring units and the building.
Photos of damage to David Copperfield’s New York apartment provided by the apartment’s board of directors.
Supreme Court of the State of New York
On a “cosmetic level,” the board claims the condition of the apartment “clearly violates” the building’s maintenance requirements. They included photos of severe damage to the carpets, walls, ceiling, bathtub and more.
A representative of Copperfield claims that these photos do not “reflect the current condition of the apartment”.
“This is a simple insurance claim,” a representative told PEOPLE in a statement. “The photos included in the lawsuit do not reflect the current condition of the apartment. This is a court matter and will be settled in court.”
In the lawsuit, the condo board also claims that the damage to Copperfield’s unit goes beyond the surface level, stating that “the level of dilapidation and deterioration in Copperfield’s unit far exceeds a purely cosmetic issue.”
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Photos of damage to David Copperfield’s New York apartment provided by the apartment’s board of directors.
Supreme Court of the State of New York
More extreme damage includes what the architects called “unrepaired water damage that is so severe as to pose a risk to the ‘concrete structure of the building,'” according to the lawsuit.
This water damage also “facilitated the growth of mold and mildew, and is actively endangering other apartments in the building,” the lawsuit continues.
The Board also alleges that Copperfield “caused a valve exclusively servicing his unit to fail, resulting in approximately $2,500,000 in damage to the Condominium’s common elements and elevator systems.”
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The magician “refuses to take these issues seriously,” only “fixing cosmetic problems with a Band-Aid,” the board claimed, adding that his “motivation to destroy his own apartment and let it fall into disrepair is completely unclear, especially when he still owns the unit and is advertising it for sale. ”
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David Copperfield.
Gary Gershoff/Getty
The filing also includes claims about the magician’s “tumultuous” history in the apartment, before moving out permanently in 2018.
It claims the magician was “far from a model tenant”, citing several incidents, including a rooftop pool that burst in 2015 due to “illegal and inefficient” plumbing, which allegedly caused 30 floors to flood.
And, the suit states, Copperfield “notoriously stocked the Unit with novelties such as fortune-telling machines, classic arcade games and other, more bizarre items such as ‘chasing devices’ apparently used by various fraternities around the turn of the century.”
“In typical fashion, Copperfield refuses to face the consequences of his actions and denies all responsibility for the damage he caused to the building and his former neighbors,” the lawsuit states.
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