LA Mayor Karen Bass says LA28 head Casey Wasserman should step down

Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times on Feb 17, 2026

Published in Olympics

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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in an interview Monday that she does not want embattled mogul Casey Wasserman running the 2028 Summer Games.

Bass told CNN's Dana Bash that it was "unfortunate" that the organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics are supporting Wasserman amid revelations that he exchanged flirty emails with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell two decades ago.

Bass initially declined to take a position on the drama surrounding Wasserman, saying two weeks ago that it was up to the board of the LA28 Olympics — the nonprofit behind the Games — to decide whether to keep him.

But Monday, Bass offered a new take on Wasserman's fate.

"My opinion is that he should step down," Bass said. "That's not the opinion of the board."

She said that "we need to look at the leadership" of LA28 and that her job is to make sure that the city is "completely prepared" for the Games.

Representatives for LA28 and Wasserman didn't respond to requests for comment.

Wasserman has previously apologized for his correspondence with Maxwell and expressed regret for having any association with both her and financier Jeffrey Epstein. The exchanges took place before Maxwell's crimes became known and before she was sentenced to prison for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.

Wasserman announced last week that he would sell his sports and entertainment company because of backlash over the email exchanges.

The executive committee of the LA28 board announced Wednesday that it reviewed the mogul's past conduct and determined that based on the facts and his "strong leadership" of the Games, he should continue to serve as chair of LA28.

The LA28 executive committee — a subset of its broader, 35-member board — said it took "allegations of misconduct seriously."

It met Wednesday after hiring outside counsel O'Melveny & Myers LLP to assist reviewing Wasserman's interactions with Epstein and Maxwell. Wasserman, it said, fully cooperated with the review.

L.A.'s Olympic leaders have yet to reveal who is on the committee. Bass' office last week said her appointees on the executive committee include entertainment attorney Matt Johnson, real estate developer Jaime Lee and union leader Yvonne Wheeler.

At least 10 L.A.-area politicians, including a third of the 15-member Los Angeles City Council, have called on Wasserman to resign from leading the Olympics, with many arguing the exchanges are a distraction.

City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is challenging Bass in the upcoming mayor's race, is among those seeking Wasserman's removal. Raman previously worked at a women's rights organization formed in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement before becoming a council member.

Bass told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday that she delayed weighing in on Wasserman because she wanted to wait for the LA28 board's decision.

Asked why Wasserman's emails from 20 years ago should disqualify him from leading the Olympics, Bass said, "I believe what has come out, in terms of that association, even though it was a long time ago, I don't believe it's the best reflection.

"But as I said, that is my opinion," said Bass, adding that the city has no authority over LA28's leadership.

Even before revelations about the emails, there were tensions between Wasserman and some Los Angeles politicians concerned that financial shortfalls in staging the $7-billion Summer Games will need to be covered by local taxpayers.

The relationship between the city and LA28 was further strained when the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published allegations in 2024 that Wasserman was a "serial cheater" who'd carried on affairs with young female staff members. Wasserman, who separated from his wife, Laura, in 2021, has denied the allegations.

Bass said Tuesday that the Daily Mail report didn't factor into her opinion that Wasserman should step down.

Former Mayor Eric Garcetti picked Wasserman, a close friend, more than a decade ago to run the Olympics.

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