Los Angeles mayor calls for Olympics chair to step down over Epstein files

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy US financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. Picture: US department of justice/AFP Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in an interview Monday she wants Casey Wasserman, whose name was mentioned in the Epstein files, to step down as the chief organiser of the 2028 Summer Olympics. Bass told CNN it was “unfortunate” the LA28 organisers were supporting Wasserman after revelations he exchanged flirtatious emails with Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell two decades ago.

Other Los Angeles city officials called for Wasserman to stand down earlier this month, but the mayor initially declined to take a position on the accusations, saying it was up to the board of the LA28 Olympics to decide whether to keep him. But on Monday Bass said: “My opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.” She said that “we need to look at the leadership” of LA28.

The LA28 Olympics executive committee gave Wasserman its backing on February 11. And Wasserman announced last week that he would sell the vast sports and entertainment agency that he founded because of the backlash over the email exchanges with Maxwell. The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday it was up to the LA organisers to decide whether to keep Wasserman in his job.

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IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told journalists: “This is a matter for the board of LA28 still at this stage. “As you know a law firm looked into it and it is up to the board to draw their own conclusions. I understand there are many conversations happening at this moment.”

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