Pop star Chappell Roan announced that she was leaving her talent management agency, Wasserman Music, after the company’s CEO appeared in the case files of Jeffrey Epstein.
“I hold my teams to the highest standards and have a duty to protect them as well. No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values,” Roan wrote on Instagram Monday. “Artists deserve representation that aligns with their values and supports their safety and dignity. This decision reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust.”
Casey Wasserman exchanged emails with Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the early 2000s. Those emails, in which the then-married talent agency founder flirted with Maxwell, were revealed in a recent batch of Department of Justice case files. Earlier this month, Wasserman said he regretted the messages “deeply” and noted that they “took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”
Roan is not the only act to leave the agency over Wasserman’s emails. Indie rock band Wednesday also announced their departure from the roster on Monday.
“Continuing to be represented by a company led by and named after Casey Wasserman goes against our values and cannot continue,” the band shared on Instagram.
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Other artists have called on Wasserman to step down from his role, including Bethany Consentino of Best Coast. In an open letter shared shortly after the emails were released, the frontwoman demanded that references to her band be removed from the agency’s website.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is not a neutral character in a messy story—she is a convicted sex trafficker who helped facilitate the abuse of minors,” Cosentino wrote. “I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation.”
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