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 handwatching 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 comparingthe footagetopicturesfrom 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 Groffreminded Epsteinin 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.
Epsteinwrote 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.
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 frequentlyinvited Blaineto social gatherings alongside Hollywood and tech bigwigs such as Allen and Bill Gates. Included in the Epstein files is ashort videoof 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!” Groffwrote.
More than once, Epstein seemed eager to connect Blaine with political figures.
“Any interest in visiting White House” Epsteintexted Blainein 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.)
