Feb 13 (Reuters) – Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games chief Casey Wasserman is selling his talent and marketing agency after facing criticism over flirtatious emails with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Following the announcement, Wasserman was criticized and asked to resign as LA28 chairman. His firm has also lost a client, with pop star Chappell Roan saying earlier this week that his firm would no longer represent her.
Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has previously apologized for his relationship with Maxwell, saying their relationship occurred before her or Epstein’s crimes were revealed.
Wasserman’s talent agency did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wasserman told company employees in an internal memo that he felt he had become “a distraction” and began the process of selling the company.
“I deeply regret that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote in the memo, according to the newspaper.
“This is not fair to you, nor is it fair to the customers and partners we so vigorously represent and care about deeply,” he wrote.
LA28 said earlier this week that Wasserman would remain as 2028 Olympics president after organizers reviewed Wasserman’s past interactions with Maxwell and Epstein and found that his relationships with them did not go beyond what was already publicly documented.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
