Chappell Roan drops talent agent in latest Epstein fallout

Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan has announced her departure from Casey Wasserman’s talent agency, the highest-profile blowback faced by the agency to date after flirtatious correspondence between its founder and Ghislaine Maxwell was uncovered in the latest Epstein files.

The released tranche includes an email in which Wasserman expressed a desire to see Maxwell, a longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein, in a “tight leather outfit”. The emails do not directly link Wasserman to Epstein himself and were sent in 2003, long before Epstein’s and Maxwell’s high-profile sex-trafficking cases.

A statement of apology from Wasserman over the weekend did not appear to contain the growing fallout, failing to persuade some artists to remain on his agency’s roster and threatening to also cast a shadow over his chairmanship of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

“No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values,” Roan said in an Instagram story, announcing her exit without directly referencing Wasserman’s exchange with Maxwell. “This decision reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust.”

Wasserman’s agency did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment.

Over the weekend, Wasserman expressed his deep regret over the correspondence, which he said took place “long before” Maxwell’s crimes became known. “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,” the statement read.

Maxwell was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence. Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody that year, in what officials ruled a suicide. Epstein had also pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor.

Singer-songwriter Chelsea Cutler said she too had dropped Wasserman as her agency, directly referencing the executive’s correspondence with Maxwell. “In a time when many of us feel particularly angry, helpless, and exhausted by our country’s climate, it simply feels incongruent with my values to not speak up or take action,” she said in an Instagram post.

A handful of musicians and performers represented by the talent agency have issued statements in recent days distancing themselves from Wasserman or calling on him to step aside, including Bethany Cosentino of rock duo Best Coast and the rock group Beach Bunny.

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