Casey Wasserman is planning to sell his namesake agency amid escalating fallout tied to documents released in the Jeffrey Epstein case, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday (Feb. 11).
The Journal reported that Wasserman formally put the agency on the market and informed staff of the move in an internal memo, citing the controversy and recent client and executive departures.
In the memo, Wasserman wrote: “At this moment, I believe that I have become a distraction to those efforts. That is why I have begun the process of selling the company, an effort that is already underway.”
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He added that Wasserman president Mike Watts “will assume day-to-day control of the business” while he focuses on his role leading the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to you,” Wasserman wrote to employees. “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.”
The decision follows intense scrutiny after newly unsealed Epstein-related materials included email exchanges between Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell from 2003. Wasserman has maintained that his interactions were limited and occurred before Maxwell’s criminal conduct became public.
In Friday’s memo, he reiterated that position, writing that his contact “consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa and a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending.”
He also stated 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.”
The fallout has already had a measurable impact across the representation business. Multiple music and sports clients have exited or signaled plans to leave the agency in recent days, including high-profile music acts and athletes. Reporting across trade outlets has described internal pressure from agents exploring buyout scenarios or spin-offs to protect client relationships.
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Chappell Roan, Orville Peck and Sylvan Esso are among those to have departed the agency, while Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino wrote via Instagram on Feb. 5, “I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation.”
On Jan. 31, a day after the release of the latest round of files in the Epstein case, Wasserman sent a statement to The Hollywood Reporter apologizing for his involvement with Maxwell while denying “a personal or business relationship” with Epstein himself.
“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. “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.”
A Wasserman representative did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
