LA28 Olympics committee Chair Casey Wasserman faced calls from L.A. officials Tuesday to resign following revelations about racy emails he exchanged with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down,” said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who along with other L.A. politicians is working with the LA28 Olympics organizing committee on planning the Games.
“Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028,” said Hahn, who represents an area of south Los Angeles County that includes coastal neighborhoods where Olympics events will be held.
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and three Los Angeles City Council members — Hugo Soto-Martínez, Monica Rodriguez and Imelda Padilla — all called on Wasserman to resign.
Later Tuesday, county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement that victims had sought the release of the files “in the hope that people of conscience will take action.”
“LA28 has lauded the likelihood of having more women participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games than ever before in history,” said Horvath, who represents neighborhoods on the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. “What does that mean when the organization is led by an intimate friend of a convicted human trafficker? Now is the time for LA28 to demonstrate how much they truly value women.”
A representative for Wasserman declined to comment or answer questions about his relationship with Maxwell.
Wasserman, 51, and other top officials with LA28, which is in charge of paying for and planning the Games, are in Italy for meetings ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Calls for him to step down follow the release of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein last week by the Justice Department that include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Wasserman and Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner.
In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes to Maxwell about wanting to book a massage and wanting to see her in a tight leather outfit.
She offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to emails posted online by the Department of Justice.
Maxwell, found guilty by a jury in 2021, trafficked young women during a period starting in 1994 through 2004, according to the Justice Department.
Wasserman has not been accused of wrongdoing by the Justice Department.
In a statement, Wasserman said he regretted his correspondence with Maxwell, which he said occurred “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,” he said in the statement.
State Sen. Gonzalez said Tuesday that “feeling ‘deeply regretful’ or ‘truly sorry’ are not sufficient responses.”
“Any person associated with Epstein, Maxwell or the Epstein files, regardless of their power, title, income or who they know, should be held accountable for any involvement they’ve had and that includes Chair Wasserman,” Gonzalez said.
Like Supervisor Hahn, Soto-Martínez called the revelations about Wasserman a distraction from the L.A. Games.
“At the same time as Ghislaine Maxwell was orchestrating one of the most notorious sex-trafficking operations in our country’s history, she was allegedly romantically involved with the person now serving as Chair of LA28,” said Soto-Martínez, who sits on a city committee for Olympic planning.
Rodriguez, who also sits on the committee, criticized LA28 for failing to submit a “robust” report on how it will manage civil rights, human trafficking and homelessness during the Games.
She said the delay, along with the revelations about Maxwell, showed “no one associated with Epstein and his associates can provide credible leadership in the planning of these games, which now includes Casey Wasserman.”
The Daily Mail in 2024 published an extensive story on Wasserman’s alleged affairs during his marriage with Laura Ziffren, whom he divorced. He denied the accusations.
Wasserman was picked by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti to oversee the Olympics in L.A.