Laufey, the Grammy-winning Icelandic jazz-pop star, has left Wasserman Music because of the growing scandal surrounding agency head Casey Wasserman’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. This high-profile departure is just one more artist leaving the company as it comes under more and more scrutiny from newly released Epstein documents.
Before Wasserman announced plans to sell the agency on Friday, sources told that Laufey was leaving. This was a big deal because of the scandal. The artist is currently on tour in Europe and has not said anything publicly about the breakup. Foundations, the same company that manages Chappell Roan, is in charge of the artist. It’s not clear if the move is directly related to the Epstein fallout, but it shows how hard things are for Wasserman during the sale process.
Chappell Roan, Orville Peck, Wednesday, and Weyes Blood are just a few of the high-profile clients who have already left or said they would leave after it came out that Wasserman sent flirty emails to Maxwell and went on a humanitarian trip on Epstein’s plane in 2002. Abby Wambach, a sports figure, also left and asked Wasserman to step down from his job as head of the LA Olympics. Roan said in public that no one should defend actions that go against moral values.
Casey Wasserman said in an internal memo that his interactions with Epstein and Maxwell were “limited” to one trip to Africa and some regrettable emails from 23 years ago. He also said that he had become a “distraction,” which led to the sale of the agency. Even though the board was behind him, LA Mayor Karen Bass told him to quit the Olympics. The company, which has been around for 24 years, is now having trouble keeping good employees.
