L.A. mayor wants Casey Wasserman to step down from ’28 Olympics committee

Casey Wasserman, Chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games speaks during an IOC meeting ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass wants Casey Wasserman to resign as chairman of the committee overseeing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics over his ties to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

“I cannot fire him,” Bass said in an interview Tuesday with CNN. “My opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.”

When the U.S. Justice Department released more than 3 million documents pertaining to Epstein, Wasserman’s name appeared in two emails from 2003 with Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was a co-conspirator of the late Epstein, a convicted sex offender and disgraced financier, and she was convicted in 2021 of a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Wasserman has said he regrets the correspondence with Maxwell, which occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

The LA28 board’s executive committee reviewed Wasserman’s contacts with Epstein and Maxwell and concluded last week that he “should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games.”

Bass, who has served as the city’s mayor since 2022, disagreed with the committee’s decision.

“I think that decision was unfortunate. I don’t support the decision. I do think that we need to look at the leadership,” Bass said. “However, my job as mayor of Los Angeles is to make sure that our city is prepared to have the best Olympics that has ever happened in Olympic history.”

The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are scheduled for July 14-30.