Chappell Roan & Orville Peck Leave Talent Agency After CEO’s Inclusion In Epstein Files

Chappell Roan and Orville Peck have both announced they’ve left their talent agency after emails between its founder and Ghislaine Maxwell were included in the Epstein files.

Roan shared a statement to her social media on Tuesday saying she refused to “passively stand by” following the new developments regarding Wasserman founder and CEO, Casey Wasserman.

“As of today, I am no longer represented by Wasserman,” she said. “I hold my teams to the highest standards and have a duty to protect them as well. No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values.”

The 27-year-old added that her decision to leave “reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust”, and that artists “deserve representation that aligns with their values and supports their safety and dignity”.

Communications between Wasserman and Maxwell were revealed in the recently released government documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein, and and included flirtatious emails between the pair from 2003.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year-prison sentence after being convicted on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors in 2021.

Possible “chain reaction” of stars leaving

Country singer Orville Peck made a similar statement hours later, saying the decision had come “in light of the recent findings regarding Casey Wasserman”.

“My heartfelt thanks goes out to my personal team, some of whom I have respected, trusted and worked with for close to a decade,” he said.

“I leave with a huge amount of compassion for the rest of the agents and staff at the agency, who are being left with a situation that impacts all of our work and livelihoods.”

Peck’s departure, along with that of several other musicians, could signal the start of a chain reaction by Roan, who has 35 million monthly Spotify listeners. Other celebrities represented by the agency include Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and Lorde.

Wasserman has apologised for his involvement with Maxwell, saying earlier in the month that the emails had occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light”.

“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “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,” he said.

Wasserman has not been accused of any crimes, but has been facing mounting to remove himself from the talent agency and step down from his position as the chief of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organising committee.