Olympics Chief Faces Artist Revolt Over Epstein Link
“It’s a house on fire,” sources said.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Hollywood stars are threatening a mass exodus from their talent agency after the chief executive’s close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell was exposed.
Casey Wasserman, chairman of the 2028 Olympic Committee, has been issued an ultimatum by several artists to either step down and divest or sell his agency, Wasserman, sources told Variety.
“It’s a house on fire,” a person with knowledge of the situation told the outlet.
Casey Wasserman is facing mounting pressure to resign from his agency and from his role in the 2028 Olympic organizing committee.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Tensions reportedly reached a “fever pitch” over the weekend, sources said, after Wasserman rejected both propositions. The executive, 51, is set to meet with other company leaders this week to chart a path forward.
Wasserman has already begun to bleed major talent, including pop star Chappell Roan, who announced Monday that she was no longer represented by Wasserman, one of Hollywood’s largest agencies.
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“No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values,” the Grammy winner wrote in a statement posted on her Instagram story.
“As of today, I am no longer represented by Wasserman, the talent agency led by Casey Wasserman,” the pop star posted on Instagram.
Didier Messens/Redferns
The latest tranche of Epstein files released by the Justice Department revealed that Wasserman, who founded the eponymous firm in 1998, flew on Epstein’s plane in 2002. Epstein was charged with sex trafficking in 2019 and died by suicide while in detention.
Wasserman also exchanged explicit messages with the disgraced financier’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking underage girls for Epstein in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Flirtatious emails between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Department of Justice
“Where are you, I miss you,” Wasserman wrote to Maxwell on April 1, 2003. “I will be in nyc for 4 days starting april 22... can we book that massage now?”
The pair exchanged raunchy emails for at least a year that included talk of nudity and massages, along with other suggestive remarks. “I think of you all the time,” he wrote in one message. “So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
The disgraced socialite later told the media mogul—whose firm represents hundreds of artists and athletes, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and soccer star Megan Rapinoe—that she could “apparently drive a man wild” with her touch.
Wasserman publicly apologized after the files were released on January 31.
“I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,” Wasserman said in a statement to the Daily Beast last month. “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.”
Documentation of the 2002 humanitarian trip was also included in the DOJ’s files.
Presently, Wasserman, the grandson of the late movie mogul Lew Wasserman, is not facing allegations of any illegal activity related to his appearance in the Epstein files. This is not, however, the first time Wasserman’s relationships with women have been scrutinized. In 2024, reports detailing his sexual relationships with numerous junior employees prompted Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish to leave his agency.
This is unfolding as Wasserman makes scheduled appearances at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan in his capacity as chairman of the 2028 Olympics organizing committee, while he also faces calls to step down from the role.
For years, Wasserman has also maintained a friendly relationship with President Donald Trump, a fellow former close friend of Epstein who has been named more frequently in the DOJ’s documents than any other individual.
Wasserman and Trump are friendly.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The pair met at the White House in December, and Trump lavished him with praise in 2020 for securing the Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Casey, you and everybody else have done a fantastic job. We got the Olympics to come to Los Angeles,” Trump said at the time.
He continued: “I hope you remember me in 2028. Okay? Do you promise, Casey? At least give me a seat, okay?”
Wasserman replied, “Guaranteed.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Wasserman for comment.
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