Casey Wasserman, the embattled sports and entertainment mogul who is the face of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, is preparing to sell his namesake talent agency.
In a letter to his staff on Friday, Wasserman acknowledged that his appearance in a recently-released batch of documents related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his deputy Ghislaine Maxwell had “become a distraction.”
Wasserman said in his memo reviewed by the Times that he was “heartbroken that my brief contact with them 23 years ago has caused you, this company, and its clients so much hardship over the past days and weeks.”
Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately return for requests for comment.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote to staff. “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.”
Over the last two weeks, artists including Chappell Roan and athletes like soccer star Abby Wambach announced they would leave Wasserman’s eponymous Los Angeles-based talent agency that he founded over two decades ago.
“I know what I know, and I am following my gut and my values,” Wambach wrote on Instagram. “I will not participate in any business arrangement under his leadership…He should leave, so more people like me don’t have to.”
Wasserman told staff that Mike Watts, a longtime company executive, would assume day-to-day management of the firm while he begins the process of selling it.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wasserman’s staff memo.
Wasserman’s grandfather, Lew Wasserman, was a Hollywood titan who built the studio MCA into a powerhouse that acquired Universal Pictures. Casey Wasserman’s sports and talent agency, also built through a series of savvy acquisitions, has about 4,000 employees.
Wasserman plans to stay in his position leading the LA28 Olympic committee, which has stood by him. In a recent statement, LA28 noted that the racy emails with Maxwell were sent following a humanitarian mission to Africa two decades “before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell’s deplorable crimes…This was his single interaction with Epstein.”
“The Executive Committee of the Board has determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games.”
The newly-revealed messages to Maxwell were part of a massive trove of Epstein-related documents made public by the Department of Justice.
In them, Wasserman wroteto Maxwell, who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence for sex trafficking of minors, “I thought we would start at that place that you know of, and then continue the massage concept into your bed … and then again in the morning … not sure if or when we would stop.”
She responded: “Umm — all that rubbing — are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. 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?”
Wasserman has said that “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. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”
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