Hollywood mogul Casey Wasserman selling talent agency amid Epstein files fallout
Hollywood mogul Casey Wasserman informed staffers at his talent agency Friday that he is putting the company up for sale, a move that comes as he faces increasing scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
In a memo to staff obtained by NBC News, Wasserman wrote that he believed he had “become a distraction” in his eponymous firm, which represents high-profile musicians and athletes.
“I am deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote. “It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the customers and partners we so vigorously represent and care about so deeply.”
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news.
Wasserman previously said he “deeply regretted” exchanging emails with Maxwell in 2003. The correspondence was released by the Justice Department in January as part of a cache of new records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell’s ex-boyfriend.
In a previous statement, Wasserman said the correspondence “took place more than two decades ago, long before his horrific crimes came to light.” Wasserman added that he did not have a “personal or professional relationship” with Epstein.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of federal sex trafficking charges. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein, who was convicted in Florida in 2008 of child prostitution, died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Wasserman has not been accused of wrongdoing or criminally charged in connection with the Maxwell or Epstein cases.
In emails released by the Justice Department, Wasserman expressed interest in seeing Maxwell wear a “tight leather outfit.”
“I think about you all the time,” Wasserman wrote to Maxwell in March 2003.
Fury over the executive’s email exchanges led some of Wasserman’s clients to head for the exit this week.
Grammy-winning artist Chappell Roan announced Monday that she is severing ties with Wasserman’s talent agency. Abby Wambach, the retired American women’s soccer star, followed suit Wednesday morning.
Independent musicians also criticized Wasserman. Bethany Cosentino, the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band Best Coast, wrote on Instagram that she “does not accept my name or career being linked to someone with this kind of association with exploitation.”
The grandson of legendary Hollywood power broker Lew Wasserman, the 51-year-old entertainment executive is also chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. This week, the committee’s board of directors announced it was supporting Wasserman.
“Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” the LA28 board’s executive committee said in a statement Wednesday.
“We found that Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the board said.
“Twenty-three years ago, before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of the deplorable crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, Mr. Wasserman and his then-wife flew a humanitarian mission to Africa aboard Epstein’s plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation.
“This was his only interaction with Epstein,” the board added. “Shortly thereafter, he exchanged the publicly known emails with Maxwell.”
In the memo to agency staff, Wasserman said Mike Watts would “assume day-to-day control of the company while I devote my full attention” to the 2028 Olympics.
