Casey Wasserman’s namesake agency rebranded Monday to “The Team.”
As TheWrap exclusively reported last month, Wasserman’s name change came as its embattled CEO readies his exit after his links to Jeffrey Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell were made public earlier this year.
“To our partners, team members, friends and community, thank you,” Wasserman the agency wrote in an Instagram post announcing the news. “While our dedication to the service of our clients remains unchanged, we have a new name. We’d like to reintroduce you to THE·TEAM.”
In a separate statement to TheWrap later Monday, a spokesperson for The Team (styled THE·TEAM), said, “Wasserman is rebranding as THE·TEAM. As a company we have been shaped by our work, our people and our unifying belief in the power of Sports, Music and Entertainment. That philosophy remains the foundation of who we are — and where we are going. We remain completely focused on serving our clients with the same professionalism that has always been our standard.”
Discussions on the rebrand were already underway at Providence Equity Partners in mid-February after Wasserman announced he’d be selling off his 40% stake in the company he founded. Providence Equity Partners holds more than 60% of the sports and talent agency and headed the decision to give it a new moniker after Wasserman’s exit. The embattled chief left the agency’s day-to-day operations last month.
Wasserman said he would step down and sell his stake of the company following fallout from emails in 2003 that suggested a sexual relationship with Maxwell, years before her conviction for sex trafficking linked to Epstein. The revelations sparked walkouts from clients across Wasserman’s sports, marketing and entertainment divisions, including pop star Chappell Roan and soccer player Abby Wambach.
Providence, a Rhode Island-based private equity firm that became a majority investor in Wasserman in late 2022, said it will keep its position and supports the current leadership structure.
“We believe deeply in the strength of the Company and have full confidence in Mike [Watts] and the leadership team, as well as in the exceptional employees across the organization,” Providence said in a statement shared with TheWrap last month. “We remain fully committed to investing in its growth, expanding its capabilities across sports, music, and entertainment, and supporting the extraordinary talent, brands, and properties the Company is proud to represent.”
President Mike Watts was named interim leader after Wasserman’s exit, a move Providence endorsed. The CEO and founder announced the decision in a memo to staff in which he apologized for his “past personal mistakes.”
“I believe that I have become a distraction,” he wrote. “That is why I have begun the process of selling the company, an effort that is already underway. During this time, Mike Watts will assume day-to-day control of the business while I devote my full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city.”
Wasserman’s position as chairman of the LA28 Olympics committee, however, has also come under question in the weeks since his Epstein-related revelations. While he was all but forced out of his namesake agency, the media mogul stands unscathed as the leader of the LA28 Olympics committee, representing the city ahead of the 2028 Games despite calls for his resignation from thousands of petitioners and locally elected officials all the way up to Mayor Karen Bass. All that after the LA28 board — which consists of figures like Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeanie Buss, Kevin McCarthy and Jessica Alba — continued to stand with Wasserman.
“I think that decision was unfortunate,” Mayor Bass told CNN’s Dana Bash last week of the organizers’ loyalty. “I don’t support the decision. I do think that we need to look at the leadership.”
She added: “I cannot fire him, but I have an opinion. And my opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.”
So while he retains his role as LA28 chairman, there has been a fair amount of wish-casting for who might replace Wasserman to lead the city in 2028 should he step down. TheWrap exclusively reported Feb. 24 that calls for outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger to take the reins are for naught — he’s not interested in the gig.
