Casey Wasserman, chair of the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, has put his international talent and sports marketing agency up for sale after being mentioned in recently released US government files about Jeffrey Epstein.
Long-time executive Mike Watts will take over the daily operations of the Wasserman business while the sports and music executive focuses on the sale.
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Wasserman has been criticized and called on to resign as the LA28 chief after it emerged that he flew on Epstein's private plane and exchanged flirtatious emails with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003.
However, the LA28 board announced last week that he will remain in his post despite the revelations after conducting a review of his past interactions with Maxwell and Epstein and found his relationship with them did not go beyond what had already been publicly documented.
There have been calls for Wasserman's resignation from some quarters ever since the US Justice Department files revealed that the LA28 chair flew on the plane of now-deceased paedophile Epstein in 2003, and that he exchanged emails with Epstein's accomplice Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for the sex trafficking of minors.
Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with Epstein. He has previously apologized for his association with Maxwell, saying their relationship came before her or Epstein's crimes were revealed.
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By GlobalDataThe 51-year-old told his firm's staff in an internal memo on Friday that he felt he had “become a distraction” to its work and had begun the process of selling the company.
In the memo to the agency's employees, he wrote: “I'm deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort.
"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.”
Several high-profile clients have already ended their relationship with the Wasserman agency this week, including former US women’s soccer player Abby Wambach.
Wasserman has been in operation for more than 20 years and currently employs approximately 4,000 staff. Over the past two decades, it has developed into one of the largest talent companies in the US through a series of acquisitions.
The talent management group oversees hundreds of high-profile sports players and musicians.
