The chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic organizing committee is fighting to keep his job after he was found to have exchanged flirtatious emails with Jeffrey Epstein’s jailed accomplice.
Casey Wasserman, 51, already announced that he would sell his talent agency—which represents thousands of notable figures, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—and focus on his civic role leading the 2028 Games after being named in the latest batch of Epstein files.
But now his Olympic post is under threat as well after LA Mayor Karen Bass said he should step down.
“I cannot fire him,” the mayor told CNN, emphasizing that any decision about his future rests solely with the nonprofit board that governs the Los Angeles Olympics, which holds the exclusive authority to remove him from the position.
She added: “I do have an opinion. My opinion is that he should step down.”
It comes after the L.A. organizing committee issued a statement last week in support of Wasserman, saying that while it “takes allegations of misconduct seriously,” he would continue to lead LA28.
“We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the board said.
Bass said she disagreed with the decision.
“The board made a decision,” Bass said. “I think that decision was unfortunate. I don’t support the decision. I do think that we need to look at the leadership. However, my job as mayor of Los Angeles is to make sure that our city is completely prepared to have the best Olympics that has ever happened in Olympic history.”
Wasserman has not been charged with any wrongdoing, nor has he been directly implicated in criminal conduct related to Epstein. However, documents released by the Department of Justice in late January contained explicit email exchanges between Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice, from 2003.
At the time, Wasserman was 29 years old, married, and had a young family. It was several years before Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019, was first arrested, and well before Maxwell’s 2021 federal conviction for child sex trafficking and other crimes. The British-born socialite is serving a 20-year jail sentence.
The correspondence showed Wasserman and Maxwell engaging in flirtatious banter and discussing a potential meeting. In one message, Wasserman wrote to Maxwell: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
One month later, Wasserman told Maxwell he would be in New York and inquired about booking a massage.
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?”
The records also indicated that Wasserman traveled to Africa aboard Epstein’s private jet in 2002 for a trip focused on HIV research. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey were also passengers on that trip.
Since the files were released, several of Wasserman’s high-profile clients have publicly criticized him, or even cut ties with his agency, and multiple members of the Los Angeles City Council have urged him to step down as LA Olympic chief.
City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who had previously demanded that Wasserman step aside, formally requested a “thorough review” of his conduct and leadership.
Singer Chappell Roan announced Monday that she had parted ways with Wasserman’s talent agency. She was soon joined by country artist Orville Peck and retired U.S. soccer trailblazer Abby Wambach.
“He should leave,” Wambach wrote on Instagram regarding his role at the agency, “so more people like me don’t have to.”
In a note to his employees, Wasserman apologized for his links to Epstein and Maxwell.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” he wrote. “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.”
“It was years before their criminal conduct came to light, and, in its entirety, consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa and a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending,” he added.
“The pain experienced by the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is unimaginable — and I’m glad, as I’m sure you all are, that those who helped them commit their crimes are rightly being held accountable.”
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