What did Casey Wasserman Actually Do?

Is there a specific Epstein files charge here?

From an LA Times article titled “Pressure mounts on Wasserman to resign as head of LA28 Olympics:”

Casey Wasserman faced more calls Wednesday to resign from his position leading the 2028 L.A. Olympics — the latest push to oust the embattled mogul in the aftermath of the recent Jeffrey Epstein files release.

During a gubernatorial forum in Sacramento, candidates were asked whether Wasserman should step down. Former Assemblymember Ian Calderon, former state Controller Betty Yee, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra all replied “yes.”

Casey Wasserman led the successful bid to make Los Angeles host of the Olympic Games and currently oversees the vast operation of actually conducting the event. LA Mayor Karen Bass is now demanding he step down.

You read that and might wonder, “Wow, what horrific act did this guy commit?” All these California politicians believe the famed talent agent should cease running this complicated undertaking? He must be under fire for a truly sick transgression. The LAT explains:

Wasserman is facing pressure to step away from the 2028 Olympics following revelations that the then-married executive exchanged flirty emails with Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago.

Umm…that’s the charge? Caveats abound if some future damning bit of Epstein information about Wasserman seeps out, but this public revelation can’t literally be the trigger? Can it? The Olympics require (likely) decreased functionality because, back in 2003, a 28 year-old Wasserman tried to hook up with a 41 year-old woman who turned out to be a criminal?

Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and charged in 2020. The revealed emails with Wasserman followed a 2002 trip to Africa, on Epstein's plane, as part of a Clinton Foundation humanitarian mission focused on HIV/AIDS awareness. Perhaps there are those who believe that something far more devious was happening on this particular 2002 African mission, but I haven’t seen evidence of that.

According to Lucas Shaw, Wasserman, who’s now selling his vaunted talent agency, had “two scandals too many.”

Casey Wasserman, the talent agent and head of the LA Olympics, survived his first brush with infamy a couple of years ago, when it was reported that he’d slept with an employee and was a serial philanderer.

A second public controversy — this time after his name appeared in the Epstein files — has besmirched his reputation and put his career in jeopardy. On Friday night, Wasserman sent out a memo to his staff announcing he would resign from his namesake sports and entertainment firm and sell his stake in the company. He also apologized. Wasserman had explored selling in the recent past, but didn’t want to exit under these circumstances.

Wasserman’s agency has long had a huge NBA presence, and I’m curious as to the ripple effects that come from a sale. That’s not really the point of this post, though.

The “serial philanderer” workplace scandal cost Wasserman Billie Eilish as a client, and this recent (I don’t know what to call this) has led to the exit of Chappell Roan. I don’t have much to say about the messiness of the philanderer story, but the 2024 Variety article on it depicts a guy who’s perhaps hard to root for:

Wasserman’s recent 50^th birthday, a Gatsby-level bash at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, was widely covered for its indulgences – including a re-creation of the landmark Beverly Hills deli Nate ‘n Al’s, though this pop-up was named for Wasserman and his grandfather (“Lew ‘n Casey”). Wasserman client Imagine Dragons performed. Bob Iger, Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi all showed up to celebrate.

Look, I’m not here to defend Casey Wasserman as a person, or even to assert his innocence in all his professional dealings. Though I worked in the NBA for many years, I do not know the man. I just believe there should be specific charges in firings and altogether cancellations. If, as currently appears, Casey Wasserman cannot be abided because of the “Epstein files,” then prominent individuals demanding his ouster should explain the actual crime. Online I see, “He had ties to a sex trafficker!” as though all of time is flat, and your 2003 romantic targets should be judged according to what’s commonly known decades later. That’s bonkers, and at some level, I believe people know it’s insane, which might be why the calls to oust Wasserman come absent specificity.

I’ll occasionally take a position like this and get accused by peers of defending the worst types out of some contrarian kink. I see the issue as less about the people involved and more about the unreasonableness of hysteria. Which is to say, I don’t care about Casey Wasserman, or even the 2028 Olympics. I do care about politicians and journalists telling us people should lose jobs according to some vague “Epstein files” standard nobody can explain. That just sounds like a lot of reacting to other peoples’ reactions.

Having been through a few of these sorts of social media cycles, I suspect it’s that. You see a lot of other people reacting to a stigmatized meme, and distance yourself from anyone caught up in it. You do it lest you be suspect in a moment of collective unreason. It’s how it goes and I get why it is, but every time, I’ll just want to know the following about the soon to be smote: What punishable crime did this person actually, provably commit?