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Casey Wasserman, the<\/span> entertainment super-agent, has attracted his fair share of controversy as the head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee.<\/p>\n In addition to passionate debates about the Olympics themselves \u2014 the geopolitics of the Games and their effect on local hosts \u2014 Wasserman has come in for criticism over his ties to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his support for Israel, and the potential that the Games might bring him profits through his role as a talent manager for entertainment stars.<\/p>\n The controversies, especially revelations about his relationship with a member of Epstein\u2019s inner circle, nearly led to Wasserman\u2019s ouster<\/a> from his role atop LA28, the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee.<\/p>\n Now, another personal wrinkle is coming to light: Wasserman\u2019s daughter, Stella, is training to compete for the Israeli equestrian team at the 2028 Games.<\/p>\n The participation of Wasserman\u2019s daughter in the Games could create an awkward dynamic for the local Olympic chief.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Stella Wasserman, 21, is training to compete with the Israeli team in the show jumping competition, according to a recent profile in World of Show Jumping<\/a>, a trade publication covering the sport. Instagram accounts for Stella Wasserman<\/a> and her mother, Laura Ziffren Wasserman, posted in the wake of the article to celebrate Stella\u2019s plans to compete with the Israeli team.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a very real possibility that the man responsible for orchestrating an American Olympic games will have a child competing for another country that has become an international pariah<\/a> due to its genocide in Gaza and wars with Lebanon and Iran \u2014 a team that is likely to face protests in LA. (Casey Wasserman, Stella Wasserman, LA28, and the Israeli Olympic committee did not respond to requests for comment.)<\/p>\n Casey Wasserman is himself an outspoken supporter of Israel. In December, he took a trip to Israel during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pledged that the safety of athletes, and particularly Israeli athletes, was his \u201cnumber one concern,\u201d according to Algemeiner<\/a>, a right-wing, New York-based newspaper covering Jewish issues.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re claiming that this thing that you\u2019re promoting so heavily is going to bring all these benefits to Los Angeles, but you\u2019re also promoting the interests of a foreign genocidal state \u2014 and on top of that your daughter is representing that state in the Games \u2014 that\u2019s a conflict,\u201d said Miguel Camnitzer, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace Los Angeles. \u201cSomebody else, without those very personal connections to Israel, might be able to make a different call, but he\u2019s unable to.\u201d<\/p>\n Wasserman, a longtime local powerbroker and grandson of Hollywood Golden Age tycoon Lew Wasserman, has been central to bringing the Games to Los Angeles, a role that has come under increased scrutiny due to his ties to Epstein and the late pedophile\u2019s former companion, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n While his connections to the Epstein world were known to some degree for years \u00a0\u2014 he rode with Bill Clinton on Epstein\u2019s private jet for a humanitarian mission to Africa \u2014 the release of the so-called Epstein files earlier this year revealed graphic sexual emails between Wasserman and Maxwell. The revelations sparked a backlash<\/a> from some of the artists represented by his eponymous talent agency, which in March changed its name<\/a> to The Team; Wasserman also announced he would be selling the company.<\/p>\n This week, Wasserman reaffirmed that he has no plans to step down<\/a> as the chair of LA28.<\/p>\n\n