WASHINGTON: The embattled chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is selling his talent agency after his name appeared in the recent wave of revelations concerning late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to US media reports.
LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman has faced mounting calls to step down after racy emails he sent Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 emerged in US Justice Department files dropped last month.
In a memo late Friday to the employees of talent agency Wasserman Group, which bears his surname, the entertainment executive reportedly said he would sell the firm but stay on as Olympics chief.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote in the memo published by multiple US media outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
“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.”
Wasserman, 51, said in the memo that his appearance in the Epstein files had “become a distraction,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
He has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in the scandal.
He said in an apology last month that his exchange with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein, took place before her crimes came to light.
In one email exchange between Wasserman and Maxwell in April 2003, he told her “I miss you” before appearing to ask for a massage.
The LA28 executive committee this week said he should continue in his role following a probe into his appearance in the files.
His talent agency represents a galaxy of stars from across music, sport and entertainment.
But several artists represented by Wasserman’s company, including Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, have announced their departure from the agency since his involvement in the scandal emerged.
Multiple Los Angeles city officials have also called on Wasserman to step aside as head of the 2028 Olympics.
LA 2028 Olympics chief to sell agency over Epstein uproar: reports
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LA 2028 Olympics chief to sell agency over Epstein uproar: reports
Duterte killed thousands, ICC prosecutors say
- His defense team countered that Duterte had murdered no one and that the prosecution’s argument was based on “hearsay” and “conjecture“
- “He’s proud of his killings. He wants to be remembered for them,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution
THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte killed thousands during his anti-drug campaign, an International Criminal Court prosecutor alleged Friday, as the crimes against humanity hearing against the former Philippines president wrapped up.
His defense team countered that Duterte had murdered no one and that the prosecution’s argument was based on “hearsay” and “conjecture,” falling far short of the bar needed to confirm the charges against him.
“He’s proud of his killings. He wants to be remembered for them,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution.
“Decades of murdering his own people, murdering the children of the Philippines, and he claims that he did it all for his country. He doesn’t deny it.
“He ran a death squad in Davao (city) that he created. He ran it for over 20 years before he became president. His promise was to kill thousands and he did.”
Throughout the week, a panel of three judges has heard from the prosecution, defense, and victims’ representatives as they weigh whether to proceed to a full trial.
Duterte has not been in the courtroom. The defense says he is too ill to attend. Victims say he does not want to face the loved ones of those he killed.
He faces three counts of crimes against humanity over his so-called “war on drugs” when he was mayor of Davao City and then as president of the Philippines.
The prosecution has put forward 76 cases of alleged murder, which they say is an “emblematic fraction” of those killed, which rights groups say number thousands.
Duterte’s defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, summing up his case, said that if his client could be faulted for anything, it was his “inappropriate choice of language.”
“But he murdered nobody,” Kaufman told the court.
He urged the judges not to confirm the charges and to free Duterte to “live out the rest of his days in peace” in the Philippines.
He said that during a visit to explain proceedings to his client, he “lost the desire to follow me within a minute.”
However, he cited the former leader as asking how the prosecutors could prove that he murdered anyone, again denying the charges against him.
Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims, summed up by saying that his clients experienced defense rebuttals “like their murdered loved-ones are being murdered again.”
He called on the court to confirm the charges so that the victims can be “reintegrated into their communities.”
Following the hearing, judges will have up to 60 days to issue a written verdict.
They can confirm all of the charges and proceed to trial, throw out some of the charges, or reject the case outright, in which case Duterte would walk free.
