Casey Wasserman, chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizing committee and founder of one of Hollywood’s largest talent agencies, announced he is selling the Wasserman Group after emails he exchanged with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced in the latest tranche of Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, triggering a client exodus that he said had made him a liability to his own firm.
In a memo to the agency’s 4,000 employees obtained by Rolling Stone, Wasserman apologized for his past personal mistakes and confirmed the company’s sale was already underway. “At this moment, I believe that I have become a distraction to those efforts. That is why I have begun the process of selling the company, an effort that is already underway,” he wrote.
Wasserman company chief operating officer Mike Watts will assume day-to-day operational control of the agency during the sales process. No buyer, financial terms, or completion timeline were disclosed.
The announcement followed two weeks of mounting pressure triggered by the release of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which compelled the Justice Department to publish millions of pages of files connected to the late financier. Among the correspondence that drew immediate attention were emails in which Wasserman asked Maxwell, “What do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” and, in a separate 2003 message, wrote: “Where are you, I miss you. I will be in NYC for 4 days starting April 22… can we book that massage now?” Maxwell responded with flirtatious exchanges referencing massages and activities that, while not explicitly criminal, reflected a familiarity with the woman later convicted of sex trafficking minors that Wasserman now describes as deeply regrettable.
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Wasserman has sought to limit the scope of the damage by clarifying the nature of his interactions with Epstein directly. He said his contacts with Epstein consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa as part of a Clinton Foundation delegation in 2002 and “a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending.” He stated his interactions predated public knowledge of either Epstein or Maxwell’s criminal conduct.
Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with Epstein beyond that, and has previously issued a public apology for his association with Maxwell.
The client departures have accelerated despite those assurances. Grammy-winning pop star Chappell Roan announced Monday she had severed ties with the agency, citing the need for representation aligned with her moral values. Soccer icon Abby Wambach followed. In subsequent days, further artists including Orville Peck, Beach Bunny, Weyes Blood, Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, Chelsea Cutler, and Water From Your Eyes also departed the roster. Rock band Phish was reported to be exploring alternative representation, while executives at Brillstein Entertainment Partners, which represents Brad Pitt, were said to have held internal discussions about a possible exit.
Wasserman had publicly insisted he would not sell the company he founded 24 years ago. Sources close to him maintained that position for weeks even as pressure mounted. Friday’s announcement represented a significant reversal and came within 24 hours of Phish’s reported exploration of other options.
The sale will not affect Wasserman’s other role. Despite calls from Los Angeles politicians and advocacy groups for him to resign as LA28 Olympic committee chairman, the organization’s executive committee unanimously voted on February 11 to retain him following an internal review. “LA28 takes allegations of misconduct seriously, and our Board is committed to thoroughly reviewing any concerns related to the organization’s leadership. Mr. Wasserman fully cooperated with the review. We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the committee said in a statement.
Wasserman retains the chairmanship and presidency of LA28, which is overseeing preparations for a Summer Games estimated to cost just over seven billion dollars, running from July 14 to 30, 2028.
Wasserman, the grandson of legendary Hollywood executive Lew Wasserman who ran MCA and Universal Studios for decades, has built the Wasserman Group into a diversified talent, marketing, and consulting firm operating across sports, entertainment, and live events. The agency represents athletes, musicians, broadcasters, and corporate clients, giving it reach across industries that made the reputational fallout particularly consequential.
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“I’m beyond proud of what this company has accomplished to date and excited to watch its next chapter,” Wasserman wrote in closing his memo to staff. He gave no indication of whether prospective buyers had been identified or whether the agency would be sold as a whole or broken into its constituent divisions.
The Epstein files fallout has now claimed several significant business casualties across the entertainment, media, and political worlds. Wasserman’s agency sale represents the most significant structural corporate consequence to emerge from the document release to date.