Olympics chief’s daughter eyes Israel spot amid LA28 storm

LA28 chair – Casey Wasserman, the head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, is facing a new public test: his daughter, Stella Wasserman, 21, is training to compete for the Israeli equestrian team in show jumping at the Games. The prospect intensifies scru

When Stella Wasserman takes aim at show jumping in 2028, it could place her directly in the crosscurrent now swirling around her father’s Olympics job.

Casey Wasserman. the entertainment agent and chair of the 2028 Los Angeles organizing committee. has already faced fierce criticism tied to his business influence. his ties to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. and his support for Israel. The controversies nearly cost him his role atop LA28. Now, another personal detail is surfacing: Wasserman’s daughter is training to compete for Israel at the Los Angeles Games.

Stella Wasserman. 21. is training to compete with the Israeli team in the show jumping competition. according to a profile in World of Show Jumping. a trade publication covering the sport. Instagram accounts for Stella Wasserman and her mother, Laura Ziffren Wasserman, posted after the profile to celebrate Stella’s plans.

The possibility of the LA Games’ top American organizer having a child representing a country many local opponents view as an international pariah—amid Israel’s war in Gaza and wars with Lebanon and Iran—raises the kind of awkward tension that rarely stays private once the spotlight hits. Casey Wasserman, Stella Wasserman, LA28, and the Israeli Olympic committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Wasserman himself has been an outspoken supporter of Israel. In December. he traveled to Israel. where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pledged that the safety of athletes. particularly Israeli athletes. was his “number one concern. ” according to Algemeiner. a right-wing. New York-based newspaper covering Jewish issues.

Critics say that stance. coming from the man they already associate with the Epstein scandal. makes the situation impossible to separate. “If you’re claiming that this thing that you’re promoting so heavily is going to bring all these benefits to Los Angeles. but you’re also promoting the interests of a foreign genocidal state — and on top of that your daughter is representing that state in the Games — that’s a conflict. ” said Miguel Camnitzer. an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace Los Angeles. “Somebody else. without those very personal connections to Israel. might be able to make a different call. but he’s unable to.”.

Wasserman’s path to LA28 has been marked by scrutiny for years. He is a longtime local powerbroker and a grandson of Hollywood Golden Age tycoon Lew Wasserman. His central role in bringing the Games to Los Angeles has come under increased attention due to his connections to Epstein and to Epstein’s former companion. convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

While his connection to the Epstein world had been known to some degree for years—he rode with Bill Clinton on Epstein’s private jet for a humanitarian mission to Africa—the release of the so-called Epstein files earlier this year reportedly revealed graphic sexual emails between Wasserman and Maxwell. The revelations sparked backlash from some of the artists represented by Wasserman’s eponymous talent agency. In March, the agency changed its name to The Team, and Wasserman announced he would be selling the company.

This week, Wasserman reaffirmed that he has no plans to step down as the chair of LA28.

The storyline now collides with another set of Olympic fights—ones that are less about individual families and more about what mega-events do to a city already stretched thin. The yearslong campaign by Wasserman and others. including former Mayor Eric Garcetti. to host the Olympics in Los Angeles has met with stiff opposition from local activists. Forming a coalition called NOlympics, they say the Games would worsen affordability, surveillance, and anti-immigrant policing by federal law enforcement.

“Mega-events like the Olympics or the World Cup don’t necessarily create problems from whole cloth, but they accelerate them.”

“When we started organizing against the Olympics 10 years ago, LA was already reeling from homelessness, housing shortages, brutal policing, and ICE. And 10 years later these issues are all worse,” said Jonny Coleman, an organizer with NOlympics LA.

In December, LA28 announced it had raised more than $2 billion in sponsorship revenue. Activists have pointed out the city’s financial exposure as well: if the costs of the Games exceed what the Olympic committee can fundraise. Los Angeles would be responsible for the first $270 million of over-cost expenses. with the next $270 million to be covered by the state of California.

For some opponents, the Wasserman controversies are inseparable from the way they view global sports diplomacy. They argue that the Games can function as a kind of spotlight that softens how the world reacts to human-rights abuses by nations taking part. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian teams were barred from competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics. while Israel has faced no such sanction—an international discrepancy critics say helps perpetuate a double standard.

The debate also turns personal for those watching Wasserman. Activists argue that the Olympics’ political narrative will not stay in the stadium once his family is part of it. They say the roster of who gets legitimized at such events can matter as much as the competition itself.

Coleman said Wasserman’s relationship to Ghislaine Maxwell. paired with Stella Wasserman’s potential competition on behalf of Israel. further highlights what he frames as the corrupt nature of the Olympics. “We know these mega-events are a way to legitimize awful regimes,” said Coleman. “It’s disgusting, but I don’t really care about the supposed integrity of the sports, personally. So yeah, let her play — why not?”.

Even as critics sharpen their case, the Olympic rules also sit in the background of the story. It is common for athletes to compete for a country in which they hold dual citizenship. and the International Olympic Committee requires that competitors be nationals of the countries on whose behalf they are competing.

For Stella, the path appears straightforward: a young show jumper training for a national team berth. For her father, the consequences are harder to contain. In Los Angeles. the Games are already being fought over as a symbol—of money. power. and who gets to stand on the global stage without backlash. Now. as the spotlight tracks from the organizing committee toward an equestrian training schedule. the stakes for Wasserman’s authority—and for the city’s patience—are only getting louder.

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