Hollywood mogul Casey Wasserman’s notably close relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s is revealed in the latest tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files. A new round of docs was released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Jan. 30 to abide by Congress’ demand for fuller transparency about the convicted human trafficker and child sex offender, who died in 2019.
Wasserman, the powerful media and sports magnate who chairs the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics committee, had long been known to have flown, along with his then-wife Laura, on Epstein’s plane. Specifically, as confirmed through previously surfaced flight logs and press reports, on a 2002 AIDS research fact-finding tour Africa along with the financier, Maxwell, President Bill Clinton and others, including Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey. The new files include an FBI report detailing an interview with an onboard emergency physician who’d been contracted with the Secret Service to provide support for the former president.
This doctor recalled four women between 20 and 22 on the flight. “No one knew why they were there as everyone else had a purpose,” explains the agency’s summary memo of the interview. The physician — who said three of the women described themselves as a masseuse, a model and a ballerina — reported that he witnessed Epstein “grab and rub” the buttocks of at least one of them.
Wasserman’s association with Maxwell, herself now serving a lengthy sentence in federal prison for child sex trafficking, wasn’t previously publicized. It’s disclosed in a series of spring 2003 emails the Justice Department surfaced through its sweeping probe.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, he says, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. 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.”
In the first exchange between Wasserman and Maxwell in March 2003, Maxwell tells him that that she’d “thought of you at inappropriate moments,” to which he responds, “I think of you all the time… So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit? I am in NY tonight, youre not, what am I to do? Xoxo cw”
Weeks later, Wasserman emails Maxwell, “Where are you, I miss you,” adding he’s soon returning to New York City. “can we book that massage now?” The next day, he writes her, “I thought we would start at that place that you know of, and then continue the massage concept into your bed…and then again in the morning…not sure if or when we would stop.” She responds: “Umm – all that rubbing – are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild -I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”
Not long afterward, she offers to send him a special care package of her favorite British treats (including cheddar cheese, baked beans and KitKat bars) from London. When the then-married businessman demurs, she asks what he’d prefer instead. Wasserman replies, “You, me, and not else much…”
The mogul, grandson of legendary Hollywood tycoon Lew Wasserman, has spent decades building his own eponymous company Wasserman into a representation powerhouse. In recent years its purchases have included the acquisition of Paradigm’s music vertical as well as the storied management-production firm Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Wasserman has spearheaded the successful effort to bring the Olympics back to Los Angeles, an effort that began in 2014. He’s now overseeing the mega event. It’s a uniquely challenging leadership exercise, given the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies and adversarial international relations, including with allies.
The executive divorced his wife, producer Laura Ziffren Wasserman, in 2021 after two decades of marriage. (Her grandfather Paul Ziffren chaired the 1984 Olympics.) His current partner is a former flight attendant on his private plane.
The Daily Mail published an investigation in 2024, citing 11 anonymous sources, alleging he’d repeatedly engaged in romantic relationships with his employees. Wasserman rebuffed the report — “consider the source,” he told Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s Squawk Box — and otherwise declined to discuss the matter.
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