The organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced Wednesday that entertainment mogul Casey Wasserman will remain committee chairman amid scrutiny on his ties to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” LA28’s executive committee of the board said.
The announcement came two days after Grammy-winning artist Chappell Roan announced she was cutting ties with Wasserman’s talent agency. Abby Wambach, the retired U.S. women’s soccer star, followed suit Wednesday morning.
Wasserman has said he “deeply regrets” exchanging emails with Maxwell in 2003. The correspondence was published by the Justice Department in January as part of a cache of new files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell’s ex-boyfriend and confidant.
Wasserman apologized last week for his communication with Maxwell, which he said “took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.” Wasserman said he did not have a “personal or business relationship” with Epstein.
Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 on federal sex trafficking charges. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein, who was convicted in Florida in 2008 on a child prostitution charge, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Wasserman has not been accused of wrongdoing or criminally charged in relation to the Maxwell or Epstein cases.
In a statement, LA28’s executive committee of the board said: “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”
“Twenty-three years ago, before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell’s deplorable crimes, Mr. Wasserman and his then-wife flew on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein’s plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation.
“This was his single interaction with Epstein,” the committee said. “Shortly after, he traded the publicly-known emails with Maxwell.”
In the emails released by the Justice Department, Wasserman expresses interest in seeing Maxwell wear a “tight leather outfit.”
“I think of you all the time,” Wasserman wrote to Maxwell in March 2003.
LA28’s executive committee of the board said it “takes allegations of misconduct seriously, and our Board is committed to thoroughly reviewing any concerns related to the organization’s leadership.”
“With the assistance of outside counsel at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, a review was conducted of Mr. Wasserman’s past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” the committee said in a statement. “Mr. Wasserman fully cooperated with the review.”
The grandson of legendary Hollywood power broker Lew Wasserman, the 51-year-old executive has long sought to bring the Olympics back to L.A. The Games were last held there in 1984.
The International Olympic Committee has signaled it stands behind Wasserman. IOC Vice President Nicole Hoevertsz told reporters in Milan-Cortina last week that she had “full trust” in Wasserman and his team.
But this week, Wasserman faced pressure from two of his firm’s high-profile clients.
Roan said on Instagram that her decision to leave the Wasserman firm “reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust.”
Wambach posted on Instagram that she had left the agency as well, adding: “Casey should resign. He should leave, so more people like me don’t have to.”
Indie musicians also criticized Wasserman. Bethany Cosentino, the frontwoman of the Los Angeles rock group Best Coast, wrote on Instagram that she “did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation.”
“Staying quiet isn’t something I can do in good conscience — especially in a moment when men in power are so often protected, excused, or allowed to move on without consequence,” Cosentino wrote in an open letter. “Pretending this isn’t a big deal is not an option for me.”
