Casey Wasserman to Sell Hollywood Agency After Suggestive Emails with Ghislaine Maxwell Exposed

Hollywood talent agent Casey Wasserman, whose clients include stars such as Chappell Roan, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar, said Friday he will sell his talent and marketing agency after his suggestive emails with Ghislaine Maxwell, the girlfriend of late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, were exposed in the recent dump of documents by the Department of Justice.

In a memo to staff announcing the sale, Wasserman stated that he felt “become a distraction” to the agency’s work and that the company was feeling an impact from his “past personal mistakes.”

“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” he wrote in the memo.

“It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about,” he added.

Wasserman said longtime executive Mike Watts will take over control of the agency, while he continues to focus on his chairmanship of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

His decision to sell follows pressure from high-profile talent leaving the agency, including Chappell Roan, the Dropkick Murphys, and soccer legend Abby Wambach.

Wasserman remains as chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, after its organizing committee voted unanimously this week to keep him on.

The board found that the relationship between Wasserman and Maxwell “did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”

Wasserman, the grandson of famed Hollywood dealmaker Lew Wasserman, founded his self-named talent agency more than 20 years ago.

He built the agency into one of the largest sports-marketing and talent-management firms in the nation through acquisition, and today it has about 4,000 employees.

Wasserman is also a major donor to the Democratic Party and worked for years to bring the Olympics, which Los Angeles hosted in 1932 and 1984, back to the city.

The Epstein documents revealed that in 2002, Wasserman and his then-wife flew on Epstein’s private jet to Africa to visit HIV/AIDS project sites with Maxwell, Epstein, former President Bill Clinton, and others.

An emergency physician who was on the trip told federal agents in 2020 that there were several young women on the flight, including a model, a ballerina, and a masseuse, for reasons he did not understand.

Wasserman issued an apology after communications with Maxwell were disclosed, acknowledging his participation in the 2002 trip but insisting he “never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

In his memo, Wasserman regretted the emails and stated that the 2002 trip was “years before their criminal conduct came to light.”

He added that 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.”