LA28 Olympics chair Casey Wasserman to sell talent agency – NBC Los Angeles

LA28 Olympics chair Casey Wasserman will sell his talent agency after years-old email exchanges were revealed in the latest release of government files on Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

Wasserman sent a letter Friday to staff members, saying that his appearance in the Epstein files created a distraction. Wasserman said he was “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,” in the memo reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

Earlier this week, Grammy winner Chappell Roan and U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach announced they were leaving the agency. 

NBCLA has reached out to Wasserman for comment. 

The contents of the memo were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The latest development around the man guiding the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics effort comes days after the LA28 executive board issued a statement expressing support for Wasserman.

In the statement, the executive board said it conducted a review with outside counsel of concerns over the email correspondence with ex-Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Wasserman fully cooperated with the review, according to the statement.

“We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the executive board said in its statement. “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. Shortly after, he traded the publicly-known emails with Maxwell.

“The Executive Committee of the Board has determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games.”

The documents including Wasserman’s email correspondence with Maxwell were disclosed as mandated by a law passed requiring the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend. Wasserman had apologized over the flirtatious emails with Maxwell from 2003.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee expressed no interest in pressuring the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chair over the emails. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry was asked Wednesday if Wasserman was still the right person to oversee the Los Angeles Olympics.

“From the IOC point of view, the (organizing committee) and how they are structured is not something we are going to get involved into,” Coventry said.

The IOC leader spoke at a news conference one day after she shared a stage with Wasserman when the Los Angeles organizing team updated Olympic officials on their hosting plans.

Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement last week, saying any decision was up to the LA28 board.

“As Los Angeles prepares to take the world stage and welcome the world for the Olympic Games for the third time and the Paralympics for the first, it is critical to be 100% focused on making our city shine and ensuring the 2028 Games are the best in Los Angeles’ history,” Bass said. “Ultimately, any decision on the LA28 leadership must be made by the LA28 Board. As you know, they are a separate and independent nonprofit organization.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is friends with the superagent, said Tuesday that he hasn’t spoken with Wasserman yet.

“I’m looking forward to it, to hear what he says. I’m also looking forward to the release of the rest of the Epstein files — what they are hiding,” Newsom said when asked about the issue during a news conference.

Wasserman has faced calls from some members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and city council members to step down as chair of the Olympic project, which brought the competition to Los Angeles for a third time. Wasserman has spearheaded the effort since LA was first a host candidate 11 years ago.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said the IOC is not “going to get involved.” Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.

In the statement released earlier, Wasserman said, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, 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.”

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors, and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.