News : Wasserman CEO Issues Apology Following Epstein Email Mention

Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino has called on Casey Wasserman to resign after his name appeared in the Epstein files.

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and was later found dead in his prison cell that August. Authorities ruled his death a suicide. In the years since, pressure has continued to mount for the full release of documents and images that could shed light on the powerful figures within his orbit.

On Friday January 30, the Department of Justice released around three million documents from the Epstein files, alongside 2,000 videos and approximately 180,000 images. The disclosure forms part of a wider series of releases under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation designed to make public material gathered during more than 20 years of investigations into the convicted paedophile.

In an open letter shared on Instagram on Thursday February 5, Cosentino, who has been represented by Wasserman since the company expanded into music in 2021, drew attention to his email exchange with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003. Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking in December 2021, along with related charges linked to recruiting underage girls for Epstein.

She was handed a 20 year prison sentence in June 2022 and has continued to deny wrongdoing. “As an artist represented by Wasserman, I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation,” Cosentino wrote.

Wasserman is the founder and chief executive of Wasserman Music, whose roster includes artists such as Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons and Lorde.

“Staying quiet isn’t something I can do in good conscience, especially in a moment when men in power are so often protected, excused, or allowed to move on without consequence. Pretending this isn’t a big deal is not an option for me.”

Emails exchanged between Wasserman and Maxwell carried a flirtatious tone. According to Variety, one message saw him ask, “So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”, while another included Maxwell offering a massage that could “drive a man wild”.

After the emails surfaced earlier this week, Wasserman, who also serves as chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics committee, released a public apology.

“I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,” he said. “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.”

Cosentino argued that the statement fell short. “Regret without accountability is just damage control — an attempt to move on while the rest of us are expected to sit with the discomfort of our careers being publicly tied to him,” she wrote. “Artists are tired of swallowing scandals like this. We are tired of learning, over and over, that men who control access, resources, money and so-called safety in our industry are given endless grace.

“We are tired of being asked to treat proximity to something horrific as an unfortunate situation we should simply move past, especially when the person involved still holds all the power. And we are tired of watching harm minimized or brushed off as ‘a long time ago,’ while the impact of that harm is still very real, especially for women and survivors of sexual assault.”

Cosentino added that she has requested both her name and Best Coast’s be removed from the Wasserman Music website, and has also called for Wasserman to step aside and for the company to be renamed. Representatives for Wasserman and Wasserman Music did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment on the letter.

“I’m speaking out because pretending this is normal isn’t normal,” she continued. “Because people in power can’t keep skating by. And because the artists keeping the lights on at Wasserman deserve support, not to be ignored while men in power are protected. It is important for us as artists to remember: these people work for us, not the other way around.”

Her statement comes in the wake of the latest Epstein file releases, which also reference figures from the entertainment world including Jay-Z, Pusha T and Harvey Weinstein.