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AN ANGRY ANGELENO - On August 1, the Daily Mail came out with a Huge Scoop: “Casey Wasserman, 50 – the...2028 Olympics Chief and Music Mogul Behind Billie Eilish....is a 'Serial Cheater' Who Slept With a String of Female Staff”.
Clearly, this is unacceptable behavior in the MeToo Era, especially when we get into the details of this article. “..He married wife and mom of his two kids Laura Ziffren [currently 60] in 2001 and split in 2021.” As an aside, considering the behavior with younger women described, one has to wonder why he would marry a woman that is 10 years older. “The mogul heading up the Los Angeles Summer Olympics is a serial cheater who 'has a chronic condition of sleeping with people who work for him'....Casey Wasserman 'love bombed' potential conquests, showered them with La Perla lingerie...and even Range Rovers – but when his interest waned, he callously dropped them like a hot potato...”
The article states “The fabulously wealthy Wasserman, 50, is the Chairman of the LA 2028 Olympic Committee....VIP guests to his...50th birthday bash in Santa Monica on June 28 included former President Bill Clinton...California Governor Gavin Newsom and...Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff.”
From the article: “Wasserman...began cheating on [his wife] with his assistant 5 years into his marriage in 2006, despite having a newborn baby...He is accused of following that...with a string of...romantic relationships with his employees – including his secretary Patricia Feau who now works in a $350,000 salary job on the LA28 Olympic Nonprofit...[and others]”...”Close associates claimed Wasserman spends 'millions' on Secret Service-style security...for [his current girlfriend who was his former private jet flight attendant]” You gotta wonder if he's dipping into the Olympics money for some of these jetset expenses. “Olympic Nonprofit accounts show a $1 Million Bill from a top security company, approved by the LA28 oversight committee.” “...trysts in the Beverly Hills Hotel” also comes up in the article.
From the article: “ '...[the assistant in 2005] was having a bad day. He called her in the office to give her a hug. From there it escalated'....” And this is where it gets REALLY bad. ”Sources said Wasserman convinced her to quit her job, promising to fund her life while she traveled with him. Instead, he ended the relationship soon after she left his firm. 'She was let go. He dumped her very soon after'...”
More from the Daily Mail: “Sources said he secretly dated one of his HR staffers...from 2006-2008....'...the little outfits at work...the...Range Rovers...'...Wasserman ...would also regularly take his mistresses on his private jet...[a corporate jet flight attendant is another flight attendant mentioned]...”
Former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti (who was damaged by a sexual harassment scandal involving accusations against a top aide and claims that Garcetti knew all about it) was also close to Wasserman and recently held “a press event in Mumbai in October 2023” with him. Current LA Mayor Karen Bass has been spending A LOT of time recently gallivanting and hobnobbing, doing media/press events, and even flying with Wasserman in both Paris and Los Angeles over roughly the last month, maybe more. All smiles from Mayor Bass repeatedly, right next to Wasserman, even after the scandal broke. Seems that her political ambition trumps feminism and doing what's right. She should be calling for his resignation. Instead she's fawning over him.
Recently, Norfolk Southern fired its CEO for an inappropriate relationship with an employee. This is quite common in the corporate world these days. The CEO either resigns or is fired. Why should the head of the LA Olympics be held to a different standard. By the way, singer (and client) Billie Eilish Dumped Wasserman's firm after the scandal broke. And The Wrap reported that “Olympics LA28 Legal Chief Resigns After Casey Wasserman Says He Won't Step Down Amid Scandal” By the way, the Los Angeles Hollywood “trades” like The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety have been ALL OVER this story.
Where is the Los Angeles Times in all of this? I googled, I searched the Times website...I couldn't find any coverage of this scandal. Maybe Times owner Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong or his “progressive” daughter Nika (who has been known to meddle with the paper) can leave a comment below if I missed LA Times coverage of this scandal. It's only been going for Over A Month And a Half. Where's the “progressive” LA Times Editorial Board demanding Wasserman's resignation? Did I miss that? The silence from Mayor Bass and the LA Times is deafening. Seems like the Boss Man or Dr Boss Man is not allowing coverage of this story. Reminds me of the Harvard Westake suicides, my first column for CityWatch. I only wrote that because the Times refused to write it up, possibly because the Boss' son graduated from the school (which I also graduated from). Coincidentally, both Wasserman's ex and his daughter graduated from the school. I scooped the Times by HALF A YEAR. I'm also reminded of “Los Angeles Times Billionaire Owner Meddled in Dog Bite Story About Rich Friend” which was also investigated by the NEW YORK Times.
Here is the Daily Beast Coverage.
So, back to that Daily Mail story. As we all know, if something like this is untrue, the rich famous person sues for defamation. Wasserman's response to CNBC recently in Santa Monica, while seated near Mayor Bass: “Well, I guess consider the source...If the Daily Mail qualifies as reporting, then I guess we're all in trouble....” He also came up with this gem: “The wind hits the tall trees.” No demands for a retraction, no claims of defamation? Sounds like it's all true. The CNBC anchor, according to the Hollywood Reporter “said he was acknowledging 'the elephant in the room' Interesting wording, considering that this Scandal is a HUGE Elephant in the Room...which EVERYBODY says that they see...EXCEPT Mayor Bass and the LA Times.
More coverage of the CNBC Santa Monica event by the Hollywood Reporter: “Then asked point blank whether he plans to stay in his role as the guru of the games, Wasserman revealed that his status remains unchanged....”...As the Mayor can tell you...if you don't want to have shots taken, you shouldn't do what any of us are doing.” Ok. Whatever that means. Nice of Wasserman to mention Mayor Karen Bass in his rhetoric about not stepping down. Of course, if the Mayor or the LA Times demanded it (or even threw a spotlight on it), he would very likely step down.
Here's VIDEO of Mayor Bass recently smiling up a storm while dressed in pink (to be the center of attention) seated next to her rich buddy Casey, while ignoring the gravity of the Olympics Wasserman Scandal. Because, like Garcetti, it's nice to use the Olympics to try to distract the public from the real problems we face 24/7 in Los Angeles. Hey, and Jessica Alba is there too!
A mere 7 days ago, on September 12th, Wasserman and Bass got together at LA CITY HALL for the installation of Olympic Flags. See the pic and read all about it from the press release at the link which includes Wasserman standing behind a lectern with the City Seal. So wrong!
When Mayor Bass ran for office and shortly after she won, she promised to be a beacon of ethics (that would root out corruption) at LA City Hall. What she is doing with Wasserman is the antithesis of that. Not the first time her administration has had ethics issues and it certainly won't be the last, but this time her face is plastered all over this shadiness. Keeping Wasserman in this top position is the kind of thing that will lead to corruption at LA City Hall. Also, think about the likelihood of HR headaches and lawsuits. This is yet another example of really poor judgment by the Mayor.
The LA Times has also recently hyped Ava DuVernay, while ignoring her MeToo history. DuVernay has been prominently featured in LA Influential as a “Creator”...DuVernay doing her pose in a fashion type shoot is the very top profile! I keep running into her picture when I'm on the LA Times website. If you followed MeToo as I did, you would know that several black women accused Very Rich Music Mogul Russell Simmons. Oprah was backing a documentary, “On The Record”, by 2 well known and respected doc filmmakers that focused on the women accusing Simmons. That documentary was supposed to premiere on Apple TV Plus. Oprah pulled out at the last minute after getting pressured by Simmons and consulting her buddy Ava DuVernay, who gave a “harsh” critique (as reported by the New York Times). As a result, Apple pulled out too. It was all over the trades. The NEW YORK Times covered DuVernay's involvement. Apparently, the LA Times did not get the memo.
Now, the LA Times calls DuVernay “the Voice of the Underrepresented”. Nothing like rich and powerful black women throwing other black women under the bus, with hints of gaslighting. Seems like the LA Times is on a sugar high caused by DuVernay's new Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor. Guess the progressive B and J didn't get the memo either.
(“The Angry Angeleno” is the nom de plume of Yuval Kremer. Yuval is a Registered Democrat; a Cali-Camp, Harvard-Westlake (pre-merger), USC, and Loyola Law School Alum; and a former ballot candidate for Mayor of LA (failing to prevent Mayor Garcetti's reelection) and LA County Supervisor (ran against Sheila Kuehl, Katy Yaroslavsky's former boss). The opinions expressed by Yuval are his and his alone (not those of CityWatchLA), but will likely be yours soon!)
