Wednesday have left their agency Wasserman amid calls for the company’s founder and CEO, Casey Wasserman, to step down after his name appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The band explained its decision in an open letter shared to Instagram. “Given the circumstances we feel strongly that we need to begin the process of extracting ourselves from Wasserman. Continuing to be represented by a company led by and named after Casey Wasserman goes against our values and cannot continue.” Wednesday were formerly represented by Andrew Morgan at Wasserman.
On January 30, the United States Justice Department released a second batch of documents pertaining to Epstein. They revealed flirtatious emails between Wasserman and Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls.
Last week, Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino shared an open letter to Wasserman, urging him to exit the company. “I’m speaking out because pretending this is normal isn’t normal. Because people in power can’t keep skating by,” she wrote. Chappell Roan, Weyes Blood, Orville Peck, Local Natives, Bully’s Alicia Bognanno, Dropkick Murphys, and Chelsea Cutler have all since left the agency, and other affiliated artists including Beach Bunny, Salute, and Sylvan Esso have threatened to resign.
Water From Your Eyes, the experimental indie rock duo from New York, are also represented by Wasserman and have posted a lengthy statement that says they have “no interest in being affiliated with Casey” and are “waiting to understand what our options are” moving forward. Water From Your Eyes also called Casey Wasserman “a close associate of the world’s most vile and repugnant social circle and human trafficking network—not to mention his unwavering support of the genocidal Israeli state,” and called for “accountability for the atrocities committed by the ruling class.”
Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells, another act represented by Wasserman, has shared that the duo will not leave the company for the time being, citing both the financial impact it would have on the band and their longstanding relationship with their agent. “Our ability to make a living in this industry is dependent on our engagement with these companies,” Krauss wrote on Instagram. “Would I love to just leave Wasserman Music? Yes I would. Can we? No because I love and respect our agent and I trust him to make the decision that is best for himself, his family and his artists. The agents at Wasserman are not the villains.” Read the full statements from Wednesday, Water From Your Eyes, and Krauss below.
Wednesday:
Last week we were among the hundreds of artists who were aghast to find out about Casey Wasserman’s communications with Ghislaine Maxwell that were made public in the latest release of the Epstein files. We feel it’s urgent that we make several things clear in the aftermath:
- We stand with all survivors of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
- We have never met or communicated with Casey Wasserman. Not once.
- We find Casey’s attempts to deflect and dismiss this situation deeply troubling.
It’s also important that we acknowledge the team of people we work with at the Wasserman agency as decent and trustworthy people with whom we’ve worked with for several years dating back to a time prior to their connection with Wasserman.
Given the circumstances we feel strongly that we need to begin the process of extracting ourselves from Wasserman. Continuing to be represented by a company led by and named after Casey Wasserman goes against our values and cannot continue. For the sake of his staff we hope that he steps down from his company and it is rebranded, but until that happens or we find a new home at a new agency we will not continue to be associated with Wasserman.
Water From Your Eyes:
Casey Wasserman, the founder and CEO of the Wasserman agency which has been representing us since 2024, is a close associate of the world’s most vile and repugnant social circle and human trafficking network-not to mention his unwavering support of the genocidal Israeli state. His “deepest regrets” and PR apologies mean nothing in the wake of violence against women and children caused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their accomplices. There must be accountability for the atrocities committed by the ruling class. We cannot live in a world that allows for this injustice to occur with no consequence.
Nate, myself, and our manager Nik have no interest in being affiliated with Casey Wasserman and have absolutely zero intention of condoning his actions by silently remaining under his namesake banner. We trust our booking agents and we are waiting to understand what our options are.
It has been another strange and devastating week in a long line of strange and devastating weeks watching humanity implode on itself, putting its worst impulses on center stage. It is nearly impossible to keep count of the crimes committed by the ruling classes, the imperialist regimes, and all those complicit through action and silence alike.
We unequivocally stand with the victims and survivors of abuse and trafficking. This includes all those who have been abducted by ICE.
May the oppressors fall to the furthest pits of oblivion. There is no future for the cruel and corrupted.
Alexis Krauss:
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately contemplating my responsibility as an individual and an artist in a system that can be exploitative, morally bankrupt and at times criminal. Over the course of my 28 year career in the music industry I’ve often questioned why I continue to be a part of it.
When I was a teenager in a girl pop band my body was digitally altered without my consent to make me look thinner. That was probably the first time I realized that my personal values were out of alignment with the priorities of the music business.
Today, despite being in a band that I’m deeply proud of, that has tried to treat people ethically, work with. individuals and companies that share our values and act with integrity, I find myself often beholden to corporations and systems that prioritize profit over ethics.
Do I wish I could burn it all down, boycott and divest? Sure I do. But to be totally honest I can’t afford to. My band can’t afford to.
Our ability to make a living in this industry is dependent on our engagement with these companies. This might not be the case for all artists but for a mid-tier band like ours, I struggle to find a way around it.
Would I love to take our music off Spotify? Yes I would. Can we afford to lose the platform Spotify gives us? No we can’t. It would be devastating for us.
Would I love to never support Live Nation and Ticketmaster again? Sure I would. Is it possible for a band that barely breaks even touring? No. I can’t even fathom how we would do it. We just don’t have that type of leverage.
Would I love to just leave Wasserman Music? Yes I would. Can we? No because I love and respect our agent and I trust him to make the decision that is best for himself, his family and his artists. The agents at Wasserman are not the villains.
Have my values aligned with every sync we’ve ever approved? No they haven’t, but does that income enable me to pay mine and my child’s health insurance every month? You bet it does. Cause let’s remember that there’s no such thing as healthcare for working musicians.
Call me spineless but this is my truth. This is the hypocrisy of our realities, as we try to do the least harm in an unscrupulous system.
Could I do more to hold these individuals and corporations accountable? Absolutely. Do I have the capacity to? No I don’t.
In my opinion it’s not the responsibility of the artists, especially those struggling to make a living, to fix these broken systems. I’m not saying we’re powerless, but without systemic change and accountability for those at the highest levels of power, no meaningful change is going to occur.
I certainly wish more multimillion and billionaire artists would step up and try to hold these institutions accountable. At some point you just don’t need anymore fucking money. People with real power need to speak up. I’m always grateful when an artist uses their platform to disrupt the status quo. You might say “it’s not enough” but it’s something.
None of these corporations are going to bat an eye if Sleigh Bells bails on them. It’ll just leave us losing more money on tour and making less streaming income than we do now. It’s a shitty place to be but it’s the truth. What we need is greater regulation and accountability at the highest levels of the industry.
I don’t want to be cynical but honestly I am. I don’t know what it’s going to take for things to really change. At this point I’m still in this business because I love my band, I love my bandmate and I love the people who have given so much of themselves to our band. They are worth investing in, even if that means simultaneously supporting a depraved system.
If you or someone you know has been affected by inappropriate sexual behavior, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN Hotline
http://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
http://www.facebook.com/crisistextline (chat support)
SMS: Text “HERE” to 741-741
