Ascendant pop superstar Chappell Roan is making a bold professional decision in order to stay true to her values.
“As of today, [I] am no longer represented by Wasserman, the talent agency led by Casey Wasserman,” the “Pink Pony Club” singer wrote in a text post shared to her Instagram story on Monday. “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 announcement comes amid a furor of fallout from Wasserman, a veteran entertainment executive and the grandson of famed talent agent Lew Wasserman, being named in the Department of Justice’s latest release of files pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Chappell Roan/Instagram
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“I have deep respect and appreciation for the agents and staff who work tirelessly for their artists and I refuse to passively stand by,” Roan continued.
The 27-year-old singer-songwriter has long championed progressive causes, advocating for music labels paying artists livable wages during her Best New Artist speech at the 2025 Grammys, and rescinding previously complimentary remarks on French actress Brigitte Bardot after learning about her history of incendiary views on religious minorities and the LGBTQ community.
She defended those values in the close of her statement on the Wasserman split, which read, “Artists deserve representation that aligns with their values and supports their safety and dignity. This decision reflects my belief that meaningful change in our industry requires accountability and leadership that earns trust.”
Wasserman founded his eponymous talent management company in 2009. The company’s high-profile roster includes some of the biggest names in music, from Coldplay and Lorde to Pharrell and Ed Sheeran.
Roan isn’t the first to speak out after Wasserman’s name appeared multiple times in the DoJ’s Jan. 30 release of nearly 3.5 million documents chronicling Epstein’s life and times.
Bethany Cosentino, frontwoman of the California rock band Best Coast, issued a searing indictment of her agency’s CEO on Feb. 6. Cosentino demanded that Wasserman step down from his post and that the company change its name to reflect its distance from the disgraced mogul. “The position Casey Wasserman has put his agents in is inexcusable,” she wrote on social media.
Other acts signed with Wasserman, like Water From Your Eyes and Wednesday, have made similar demands.
Andreas Rentz/Getty
Wasserman, who is also chairman of the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, traded several emails with close Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors in 2021.
“Where are you, I miss you,” Wasserman wrote in one of the emails to Maxwell, most of which are dated to 2003, five years before Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, landing him in a Florida jail for 13 months. “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” Wasserman wrote in another.
Wasserman apologized shortly after the discovery of his correspondence with Maxwell.
“I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,” he wrote in a statement shared with the New York Times. Wasserman claimed he “never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” though did acknowledge his participation in a 2002 trip to Africa with the Clinton Foundation aboard Epstein’s plane. “I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”