Casey Wasserman, a Los Angeles entertainment executive and chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics whose name recently surfaced in the Epstein files, said late Friday he has started the process of selling the talent agency he founded more than two decades ago.
In a message to the 4,000 employees of the Wasserman Group, the sports marketing and talent agency that carries not only his name but that of his grandfather, Lew Wasserman, an iconic show-business figure, Mr. Wasserman issued an apology. He also announced that he would step back from his business interests to devote his attention to preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games.
The announcement followed a wave of defections of dozens of musicians and performers from the agency after flirtatious emails he sent to Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who had sprawling ties to powerful leaders, became public.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” he wrote to his employees. “It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about.”
The move was a major reputational blow to Mr. Wasserman, 51, a scion of Hollywood royalty and a major Democratic donor. His agency represents more than 4,000 musicians, performers and athletes, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Paige Bueckers, Brittney Griner and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Mr. Wasserman had previously apologized for his emergence in the Epstein files. The exchanges suggest no illegality by Mr. Wasserman, who was 29 at the time, or by Ms. Maxwell.
Leaders of the 2028 Olympics effort in Los Angeles affirmed this week that he would continue to run the Summer Games organizing committee, indicating that any indiscretions in the messages did not warrant his removal as chairman.
But more than two dozen of Mr. Wasserman’s clients denounced him in recent days or sought other representation, including the pop singer Chappell Roan; the country music artist Orville Peck; the frontwoman for the indie band Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino; and the retired soccer star, Abby Wambach. On Thursday, the electronic dance music D.J. John Summit wrote on social media that “if casey wasserman doesn’t step down, i will not remain with the agency.”
It was unclear whether Mr. Wasserman’s decision to sell the firm would stem the turmoil or spur Olympic organizers to rethink their vote of confidence in him as chairman. Hours before the announcement, he spoke on an afternoon panel at a sports, media and technology conference in Inglewood, Calif., related to N.B.A. All-Star weekend festivities. He sat next to Michael Rubin, a friend and the billionaire owner of Fanatics, the sports retail company that is a licensing partner for the 2028 Olympic Games.
The fallout stems from correspondence in the most recent trove of documents that was released by the Justice Department on Jan. 30 in connection to Mr. Epstein.
The files included suggestive messages between Mr. Wasserman and Ms. Maxwell. In 2022, Ms. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and other counts related to conspiring with Mr. Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls.
The emails are from 2003, several years before Mr. Epstein was first arrested and accused of sexual misconduct. Mr. Wasserman, who was then in his late 20s and married with a young family, wrote to Ms. Maxwell, “I think of you all the time,” and added, “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
A month later, Mr. Wasserman told Ms. Maxwell he would be in New York and asked, “Can we book that massage now?” Ms. Maxwell answered, “There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild — I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”
In 2002, the year before the messages were exchanged, Mr. Wasserman had entered Mr. Epstein’s orbit when he was invited by former President Bill Clinton to join a two-week humanitarian tour of Africa. They flew on Mr. Epstein’s plane, and photographs from the time captured Mr. Wasserman with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell.
After his messages to Ms. Maxwell became public last month, Mr. Wasserman said in a statement: “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”
“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he added. The exchanges involving Mr. Wasserman do not indicate any direct association with Mr. Epstein beyond the trip to Africa.
But the revelation followed a damaging tabloid report in 2024, which he denied, that alleged that Mr. Wasserman had numerous extramarital affairs, including with employees. And it came as public figures worldwide have been forced to resign from governments, corporations and nonprofits concerned about the possibility of spillover damage from the Epstein scandal.
This week, the executive committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics issued a statement in support of Mr. Wasserman, saying that while it “takes allegations of misconduct seriously,” Mr. Wasserman would continue to lead LA28. Its decision came after it conducted a review of his past interactions with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell.
But celebrities associated with his agency weighed in critically on social media.
On Feb. 6, Ms. Cosentino called on Mr. Wasserman to “step down” from his company and said that Mr. Wasserman’s comments of regret were insufficient. “Regret without accountability is just damage control,” Ms. Cosentino added.
Other indie musicians — among them Weyes Blood, Beach Bunny, Wednesday and Dropkick Murphys — have also distanced themselves from Mr. Wasserman. The tipping point may have come on Monday when Ms. Roan, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, said she would leave the agency.
“I hold my teams to the highest standards,” she wrote on social media. “No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values.”
In the music world, the departure of Ms. Roan — a household name who took the Grammy Award for best new artist last year — raised the prospect of further major losses. Among the other major acts on the Wasserman roster are SZA, Dave Matthews Band, Noah Kahan and Lorde.
Mr. Wasserman, who founded his company in 2002, began by building an extensive sports and marketing agency. In 2021, while the pause in concert touring brought about by the pandemic was causing a deep disruption in the agency world — the side of the music business that arranges concert tours, a multibillion-dollar business — Mr. Wasserman planted a prominent flag in music by buying the North American music division of the Paradigm Talent Agency.
In 2022, Mr. Wasserman relied on a substantial private equity investment from Providence Equity Partners, though he has continued to hold majority control.
Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
Shawn Hubler is The Times’s Los Angeles bureau chief, reporting on the news, trends and personalities of Southern California.
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