Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympic Games, will remain in charge of the Olympics but is selling his company as he views he has become a “distraction”
Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympic Games, is selling his talent agency after the recent controversy surrounding his name in the Epstein Files, according to a company-wide memo Wasserman sent out, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Wasserman founded the agency in 2002 and has represented multiple high-profile athletes and artists over the past 20+ years. Once Wasserman sells his piece of the company — roughly 40% with Providence Equity Partners owning the other roughly 60% —, it is expected to rebrand, according to Sports Business Journal.
“At this moment, I believe that I have become a distraction to those efforts,” Wasserman wrote in the memo. “That is why I have begun the process of selling the company, an effort that is already underway. During this time, Mike Watts will assume day-to-day control of the business.”
The files the U.S. Department of Justice released revealed flirtatious emails from the early 2000s between Wasserman and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Some of the exchanges include Maxwell telling Wasserman she thought of him at “inappropriate moments” and Wasserman asking Maxwell, “what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
The files didn’t reveal any relationship with Epstein himself beyond Wasserman meeting him one time, when he flew on Epstein’s plane to a humanitarian mission to Africa at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation. The LA28 Board, with the help of outside counsel at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, found Wasserman’s relationship didn’t go beyond what was publicly known.
“Hopefully by now you know the facts about my limited interactions with those two individuals,” Wasserman wrote. “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. And I’m 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.”
Following the release of these files, many artists a part of Wasserman’s agency have left the company, including: Chappell Roan, Gigi Perez, Orville Peck, Wednesday, Weyes Blood, Water From Your Eyes, Beach Bunny, Local Natives, Chelsea Cutler, Dropkick Murphys and Bethany Cosentino.
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Despite Wasserman now selling his company and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advocating for him to step down, Wasserman remains the chairman.
“Other than my children and my fiancée, there are two things that matter most to me in this world: this company that I founded 24 years ago, and the dream I’ve pursued for more than a decade of bringing the Olympic Games back to the city I love,” Wasserman wrote.