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highplainsdem

(61,006 posts)
Mon Feb 9, 2026, 10:41 PM Monday

Chappell Roan Exits Wasserman Agency Following Epstein Fallout: 'I Refuse to Passively Stand By' [View all]

Source: Rolling Stone

Chappell Roan has joined a group of artists walking away from music talent agency Wasserman Group following the revelation of risqué emails exchanged between its founder Casey Wasserman and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell in the latest tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department.

“As of today, I am no longer represented by Wasserman, the talent agency led by Casey Wasserman. I hold my teams to the highest standards and have a duty to protect them as well,” wrote Roan in an Instagram Stories post on Monday, Feb. 9. “No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values. I have deep respect and appreciation for the agents and staff who work tirelessly for their artists and I refuse to passively stand by.”

Roan, who has championed for better health insurance and treatment of artists during her 2025 Grammys speech, added on Monday’s announcement that “Artists deserve representation that aligns with their values and supports their safety and dignity.” The musician ended her note by saying the decision “reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust.”

-snip-

Los Angeles officials have called on Wasserman to resign as chairman of the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down,” L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028.”


Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chappell-roan-exits-wasserman-agency-epstein-fallout-1235513841/



More from The Hollywood Reporter:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/casey-wasserman-epstein-fallout-1236500784/

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that multiple artists are considering cutting ties with the management firm, which greatly expanded its footprint into music representation five years ago with a major buy of Paradigm’s North American live music unit. Best Coast’s Cosentino, one client that had been brought over in that deal, wrote that her loyalties lie with her agent, Sam Hunt, not with Wasserman as a firm. (Another of those clients from the Paradigm deal, Billie Eilish, had already departed Wasserman in 2024 after a Daily Mail article alleged the CEO had inappropriate relationships with employees.) The comments mark a rare case of artists publicly calling on a top executive to step down from a company, one whose name is not only on the side of the building but in their agents’ email address and how the company touts itself (“Team Wass”).

Efforts are afoot by some of his own agents to buy out the music side of his representation business to spin it off into an independent branded agency without the Wasserman name. It’s unclear where those discussions now stand. Wasserman has counted Providence Equity Partners as a strategic investor since 2022, replacing earlier backers RedBird and Madrone Capital. The company declined to comment for this story.

-snip-

Wasserman’s emails to Maxwell from spring 2003 include her sharing that she’d been thinking of him “at inappropriate moments,” to which he responded, “I think of you all the time… So what do I have to do to se you in a tight leather outfit? I am in NY tonight, youre not, what am I to do? Xoxo cw.”

In his apology, Wasserman noted, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. 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.”


That trip to Africa is a problem for him (and Clinton) because a doctor on the plane, Clinton's emergency physician, had told the FBI there were four young women in their early 20s on the plane and "No one knew why they were there as everyone else had a purpose."

Wasserman exchanged a lot of emails with Maxwell, including requesting a massage. He was married at the time, had been married only a couple of years.
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