Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has called for the resignation of Casey Wasserman, president of the organizing committee for the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games, whose name appeared in the Epstein case.

She told CNN on Monday evening that it was "regrettable" that the Games' executive committee was supporting Wasserman. "In my opinion, he should resign."

Karen Bass initially refused to take a position on the controversy surrounding Casey Wasserman, stating two weeks ago that it was up to the board of directors of the upcoming Summer Games to decide whether or not to keep him in his position.

Aged 51, an influential figure in Hollywood, notably with his talent agency, he is under scrutiny for exchanging lewd emails with Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's ex-partner, who was imprisoned for helping the financier recruit underage prostitutes.

Following these revelations, Mr. Wasserman published a statement in which he said he "deeply" regretted this correspondence held in 2003, three years before the first arrest of the sex offender, who committed suicide in prison in 2019.

A few days ago, he announced his intention to sell his talent agency, declaring himself once again "deeply sorry that (his) past personal mistakes (had) caused (them) so much inconvenience", in a note published by the American media.

But for now, he still has the support of the executive committee of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, which defended his competence again last Wednesday.

"Given the facts presented and the leadership demonstrated over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman must continue to lead LA-28 in order to organize successful Games," the committee wrote, while indicating that it "takes the allegations of misconduct" by its leader seriously.

Before Karen Bass's statement, at least 10 elected officials from the Los Angeles area, including a third of the 15 members of the city council, had asked Wasserman to resign from his position, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.