The world's media have turned on magician David Blaine, accusing him of cheating in his latest death-defying stunt, which was supposed to involve hanging continuously upside down for 60 hours.
Quoting eye witnesses, newspapers in Britain and the US have labelled Blaine's "Dive of Death" a fraud after he was spotted taking hourly breaks for up to 10 minutes by standing upright.
Blaine's latest stunt, in which he was to hang upside down suspended by a wire frame four storeys above New York's Central Park, was billed as his most dangerous ever.
The illusionist stated publicly that he would drink water upside down and urinate through a catheter, while doctors warned he risked a brain haemorrhage and could go blind.
But according to celebrity gossip website Gawker.com, bystanders saw Blaine resting upright on a platform for ten minutes before being hoisted back up.
Blaine's spokesman, Pat Smith, has been forced to defend the stunt, saying the magician would die if he did not take the breaks.
"There has been no claim that David was going to hang upside down for 60 hours without a break," Smith was quoted by the Daily Mail newspaper as saying.
"In all of his discussions with the media, he said he would have to occasionally get his head above his heart and lower his legs to correct circulation," he said.
"About once every hour, David comes upright for about five minutes for a medical and equipment check.
"He has something to drink and he relieves himself, something even David can't do upside down."
Blaine, whose past stunts include spending a week underwater in a "human aquarium", is due to complete his upside-down stint later today.
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