A major rupture in the concert industry worldwide is having a ripple effect on the Twin Cities music scene.
At least two popular Minnesota-rooted touring artists, Hippo Campus and Samia, have publicly severed their ties with the powerful Los Angeles talent agency Wasserman after its namesake founder, Casey Wasserman, was linked to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Several other well-known local acts are pondering their future with the company.
Hippo Campus and Samia joined a modest but growing exodus from the Wasserman agency that also includes Chappell Roan, Orville Peck, Dropkick Murphys, Gigi Perez, Sylvan Esso, Beach Bunny, Wednesday and Best Coast. The latter band’s frontwoman Bethany Cosentino said in a statement, “I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation.”
Most of the biggest artists represented by Wasserman’s agency — including such marquee names as Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Lorde and Kenny Chesney — have yet to address the controversy.
Wasserman’s name came up last week in recently released Epstein files. He has been accused of carrying on a flirtatious relationship with Epstein’s main accomplice, convicted sex trafficker Maxwell. Wasserman issued an apology saying he “deeply regrets” his association with Maxwell, but he denied knowing Epstein or of his or Maxwell’s crimes.
In her Feb. 11 announcement on Instagram, Samia said, “Given the recent release of information about Casey Wasserman … I’ll be leaving Wasserman Agency immediately.
“I’ve worked for years with two incredible women at the company who do not deserve to bear the consequences of someone else’s actions. I stand firmly with the victims of sexual abuse and trafficking.”
Samia’s pals in Hippo Campus — who are heading up the I.C.E. Out! protest concert Feb. 15 at First Avenue — made similar statements in an announcement a day earlier. Other artists with local ties who are represented by Wasserman in their bookings include Trampled by Turtles, Bon Iver, She’s Green and Wild Horses. Most of these more midlevel bands have close ties with specific agents who work at the agency and little to do with Wasserman himself.
