‘The Varsity’ Kickoff, Findlay After Hours, Rapino’s Email Trail

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon compendium of Puck’s latest reporting.

First up today, Eriq Gardner reveals the legal whiplash facing Live Nation as the country’s largest concert promoter struggles to keep its C.E.O., Michael Rapino, from being deposed over the Astroworld crowd-crush tragedy. Plus, Bob Iger’s latest Mandalorian courtroom setback.

Then, below the fold: Julia Ioffe spots the ironies in billionaire Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest in France. Marion Maneker chats with legendary art dealer Michael Findlay about his dishy new memoir. On the inaugural episode of The Varsity, John Ourand gets on the horn with Peyton Manning to discuss the rise of ManningCast, the genesis of Omaha Productions, and so much more. On The Town, Matt Belloni huddles up with Scott Mendelson to candidly assess their early May box office predictions. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby calls up John to unpack the biggest storylines set to dominate the NFL season, from Tom Brady in the broadcast booth to the league’s Netflix debut.

ERIQ GARDNER

Live Nation’s fight to keep its C.E.O. from being deposed over the 2021 Astroworld concert tragedy appears to have backfired. Meanwhile, after a setback in the Gina Carano case, Disney is grappling with a deposition headache of its own.

JULIA IOFFE

The billionaire Telegram founder, now a cause célèbre among the Russian opposition following his arrest in France, is not quite the free speech hero he is made out to be.

MARION MANEKER

A new memoir by legendary art dealer Michael Findlay looks back at the wild art world of 1960s New York, when buildings in Soho sold for a song and the appreciation of a work of art outweighed its investment potential.

JOHN OURAND

Welcome to the maiden voyage of The Varsity. On this debut episode, John chats with Peyton Manning about the origins of his post-football career, the rise of the ManningCast, the genesis of Omaha Productions, and so much more—Brady, Bill, Tennessee, NIL, Eli, etcetera. It’s really great!