"I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down"

On Tuesday, Casey Wasserman arrived in Milan, where he delivered the LA28 update at the kickoff to the Winter Games. "We agree to shared rules, we agree to respect them, and we agree that the same standards apply to everyone," LA28's chair said, standing before a giant screen that flashed with photos and videos from Los Angeles's century-long Olympics history. Also on the stage was IOC president Kirsty Coventry, who had just fielded questions about Wasserman's association with Jeffrey Epstein in the latest Department of Justice drop, specifically, the emails he exchanged with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Then, hours later, the Los Angeles Times published a story by Dakota Smith with this quote from LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn: "I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down. Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028."

Here is the complete list of everyone who has called for the LA28 chair to resign, with links to their statements (this list is being updated):

• LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn
• LA City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who sits on the city's ad hoc Olympics and Paralympics committee (as reported first by Torched!) (Updated: and who also issued another statement after the LA28 board vote)
• State Senator Lena Gonzalez, who represents Long Beach
• LA City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who sits on the city's ad hoc Olympics and Paralympics committee (Updated: and who has also introduced a resolution calling for more transparency from the LA28 board)
• LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
• LA City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez
• LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath (who is not running for LA mayor)
• LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman (as reported first by Torched!) (Updated: and who, moments after I published this, announced she is running for mayor)
• LA City Councilmember Imelda Padilla, who sits on the city's ad hoc Olympics and Paralympics committee
• Pasadena Councilmember Rick Cole
• State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, who represents Pasadena
• LA mayoral candidate Rae Huang
• West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Byers
• West Hollywood Councilmember John Erickson, who is introducing a resolution calling on Wasserman to resign
• 10 state legislators who sit on the legislature's 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games committee, including Asm. Josh Lowenthal, Asm. Nick Schultz, and Asm. Mark Gonzalez
• 37 state legislators of the LA County Legislative Delegation, in a statement

One elected official who is not calling for Wasserman to step down is LA Mayor Karen Bass: "As Los Angeles prepares to take the world stage and welcome the world for the Olympic Games for the third time and the Paralympics for the first, it is critical to be 100% focused on making our city shine and ensuring the 2028 Games are the best in Los Angeles’ history. Ultimately, any decision on the LA28 leadership must be made by the LA28 Board. As you know, they are a separate and independent nonprofit organization."

Major update: After deflecting to the board, who opted to keep him in power, Bass told CNN on February 16 that Casey Wasserman should resign as LA28 chair: "I cannot fire him. I do have an opinion. My opinion is that he should step down. That's not the opinion of the board." (I've also shared this clip on Instagram.)

At a rally outside LA28's headquarters on February 6, the Fair Games coalition was calling — actually, loudly chanting — for Wasserman's resignation, although they have been calling for him to step down for months due to LA28's silence on immigration raids. This is a significant development that has been largely ignored in the wave of reporting about the emails. The Fair Games coalition is made up of over 60 organizations including LA's largest unions — United Farm Workers, UFCW 770, UTLA — that represent over 100,000 workers. We've seen what this labor power can do.

Also calling for Wasserman's resignation is the NOlympics LA coalition, obviously, which includes dozens more local organizations. And has been drawing attention to Wasserman's relationships with Epstein and Maxwell for a decade.

Wasserman's clients are also starting to speak out. Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino issued a statement: "I have asked to remove my name and band's name from the company site. The position Casey Wasserman has put his agents in is inexcusable. This is a call for him to step down and a change of business name be imminent." Wasserman lost Billie Eilish as a client due to other allegations in 2024, right after she performed in the Paris closing ceremonies. Although, as I pointed out then, there's something else to keep an eye on here: how Wasserman is promoting his own clients through Olympics-related deals. Updated: On Sunday evening The Wrap reported that a group of Wasserman music agents delivered Wasserman an ultimatum: "sell them the music business and leave or they will leave the agency." On Monday evening, Chappell Roan, arguably one of the world's biggest stars, announced she was no longer represented by Wasserman: "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." Billboard is updating a list of all Wasserman client statements. I feel like at this point I should also start a playlist. On the athlete side of the business, soccer star Abby Wambach has left the Wasserman Agency.

Major update: On February 13, Wasserman announced he's putting his entire agency up for sale to "devote my full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city."

I've continued to add to my thread on Bluesky, which has been shared over 400 times. I'll also keep updating this list — and if you are an elected or organization who wants to share a statement, you know where to find me. For more analysis — including details about the LA28 emergency board meeting and the reaction to Wasserman's announcement — head to the next Hot Links. 🔥

More out-of-state LA28 venues have been announced — six stadiums will host soccer matches in New York City (not yet built lol), Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San Jose, San Diego. Finals are still at the Rose Bowl. There's also a possibility that these matches will begin long before the opening ceremonies, something else that’s been hinted at by organizers. While this announcement was not a surprise — soccer requires more stadiums than LA has available; this was also what was done in 1984 — the timing seemed intentional to purge the news cycle; see above. 🦋

LA County's plan to remove homeless people around megaevent venues is certainly getting a lot of attention as more fan zones are announced and the city and county fight about outreach responsibilities. Here's the whole report. This is particularly alarming as the city and county fight over resources and the federal government keeps promising to disappear homeless people. Torched readers know that while LA's World Cup host committee delivered a human rights strategy and this recent update, we don't have one from LA28 yet. 🦋

The State of the Megaevents is... hot. Hundreds of bold-faced names waited in a very long line to see LA Mayor Karen Bass deliver her first of two State of the City addresses at Expo Center on a very warm Monday afternoon. One bit of news: in addition to the World Cup fan zones, LA will hold 100 watch parties in city parks. But who's paying for this? Bass has yet to endorse a new ballot measure to fund LA's broke park system. I wrote a live thread, but will have more analysis to come. Here's the State of the City #1 address as delivered. 🦋

What happened to LA 2.0? You remember, don't you? Gavin Newsom stood in a still-smoldering Altadena and promised a "Marshall plan" for rebuilding — an "LA 2.0" using upcoming megaevents as a timeline; the "spirit that comes from not just hosting those three iconic games and venues," but also the "opportunity to rebuild at the same time." Has anyone seen that? No? Not even an LA 1.5? Newsom then launched his fire-recovery fund LA Rises, also framed around megaevents, with Casey Wasserman, Magic Johnson, and Dodgers owner Mark Walter — who promised $100 million. One year later, LA Rises has delivered only $20 million, including only $7.8 million out of a promised $100 million from Walter.

More essential reading

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I never miss an opportunity to see the work of the irrepressible Peter Shire, the Memphis Group artist who supplied essential vibes for the look and feel of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Shire has a new show — The Answer is 'Yes' — currently up at downtown's Art/Space 114 through April 4 that features some of that work. As you delight in Shire's furniture — and those spatter-painted mugs! — be sure to head up to the second floor to see a gallery of photos by the great Gary Leonard which capture Shire's behind-the-scenes process on the Olympic Village at UCLA, including the torch lamps — which you can still sometimes find, if you're lucky.

What Torched subscribers are reading

• "Emails and internal spreadsheets obtained by L.A. Reported through public records requests reveal how city attorneys, police officers, and city council and department staff manipulate shade — a too-rare public resource in Los Angeles that is seldom thought of until we need it — to move people where it wants them. Their goal: to curb so-called quality-of-life infractions that are blamed for making neighborhoods feel unsafe." A new piece in the new local publication LA Reported by Torched Talks guest Sam Bloch
• "How Trump Weaponized the Department of Transportation," by the always-prescient Steven Higashide
• My LA Podcast co-host Mike Bonin raising the alarm about the policing style of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell as we head into our megaevent era: "With the World Cup weeks away and the 2028 Olympics around the corner, time is running out to rein in McDonnell. Unless the mayor and more elected officials speak out and act, Los Angeles risks a future where warrior policing dominates, civilian oversight and sanctuary policies are hollow, and the Olympics become a pretext for permanent militarization"
• As always, Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin on the politics of Milan-Cortina
• The Washington Post's story on how climate change is making it harder to host the Winter Olympics makes a great point: the Paralympics, which always come second, will always get more screwed. I also thought about how LA's Paralympics will go into August, all but ensuring it will be hotter than the Olympics. Also: donate to the fund for laid-off WaPo reporters
• Related: Olympics Torched: How the Winter Olympics being a platform for polluters is melting the snow it depends on
• Sammy Roth profiles Italian hockey player Jacquie Pierri as "a climate hero to cheer for" at this year's Winter Games
• “The turning point really was the Olympics. That soccer was so successful in the Olympics, that’s when FIFA thought maybe we could bring our crown jewel to the United States and not be embarrassed." Alan Rothenburg is the lawyer who brought soccer to the 1984 games and the 1994 World Cup to the U.S
• Move LA's Eli Lipmen on LA in a Minute for a full hour. LET'S GET INTO IT!!!
• And a general reminder that I've got a list of Torched-recommended books up at Bookshop (where I earn a small commission if you buy one). Just added: The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer, by Alan Rothenburg

Out and about

It was great to join Move LA's Eli Lipmen and Ciclavia's Romel Pascual onstage at LACI's annual summit. I loved doing this interview with franknews, thanks so much to Noelle Forougi for asking such great questions. And a reminder about next week's UCLA talk, Wednesday, February 11 at 10:30 a.m.; here's where to watch it live! Be sure to catch Metro's Seleta Reynolds and Investing in Place's Jessica Meaney (coming up on February 18) from the same series. And, as a general reminder, I co-host LA Podcast, a weekly news and politics show for Angelenos. And you better bet we'll be talking about a lot of these topics this week. New episodes drop Monday!