Happy Friday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon compilation of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Matt Belloni rolls out the second installment of his annual, probably surefire predictions for the entertainment industry in the year ahead: Will Disney name two C.E.O.s to succeed Bob Iger? Could the Michael Jackson biopic set an unprecedented box office record? Will the Warner Bros. Discovery sale saga be resolved by this time next year? And is OpenAI going to help bring a film to Cannes? Almost certainly! But only time will tell…

Plus, below the fold: Ian Krietzberg digs into the Grok deepfake sex scandal engulfing X. Abby Livingston dissects the latest bipartisan crusade to ban congressional stock trading. John Ourand considers whether NASCAR’s recent upheaval will lead the family-run organization to tap outside investment. And for Inner Circle members, Lauren Sherman charts the slow unraveling of Capri C.E.O. John Idol’s accessible-luxury empire.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Lauren huddles up with Bill Cohan on Fashion People to discuss the ongoing crisis at Saks Global. On The Grill Room, Dylan Byers and Julia Alexander debate Tony Dokoupil’s rocky debut at CBS Evening News, Semafor’s $330 million valuation, and more. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul assess Trump’s Venezuela crusade and whether Greenland could be next. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Lauren create their own shortlist for who will replace Will Welch at GQ.

HOLLYWOOD

StrikeWatch ’26, a bizarre Michael Jackson record, and the future of Disney’s Dana Walden (if she’s C.E.O. or not) in the second act of the town’s favorite prognostication of the year ahead.

A.I.

For more than two weeks, xAI’s Grok chatbot has been gamely stripping people to their undergarments in response to user prompts on X. How much legal exposure does the company face—and when will this dystopian episode come to an end?

WASHINGTON

The once quixotic, bipartisan crusade to ban congressional stock trading is gaining real momentum—but in the least productive Congress in history, getting Washington’s best-informed traders to give up their Robinhood accounts may be a long shot.

SPORTS

After a landmark settlement, a slew of unfavorable publicity, and the departure of its commissioner, NASCAR may finally have to make real room for outside investment. Could it all push the France family to go full sale? Plus: some Fox Sports kremlinology.

FASHION

After redefining the affordable luxury category, Capri C.E.O. John Idol tried to create an American-based alternative to LVMH—a roll-up of high-end brands, some healthier than others, to compete on supply chain logistics and marketing. But after the jettisoned merger with Tapestry and the sale of Versace, the unwinding of his would-be empire is filled with industry lessons.

FASHION

Lauren is joined by financial whiz Bill Cohan, author of Puck’s Dry Powder, to discuss the situation at Saks Global, the department store group that is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy imminently. They discuss how the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman got here and where the business is going in 2026, considering the implications for individual brands and the fashion industry at large.

MEDIA

Julia and Dylan survey a volatile week in media: Tony Dokoupil’s rocky debut at CBS Evening News and the broader questions it raises about Bari Weiss’s leadership, Semafor’s eyebrow-raising $330 million valuation, the flood of A.I.-generated content overtaking Instagram and X, and plenty more.

WASHINGTON

John welcomes back Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and the author of Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, for a special two-part deep dive into Donald Trump’s foreign policy. In the first installment, McFaul weighs in on the headline-making, world-shaking events of the past week—from America’s invasion of Venezuela and exfiltration of Nicolás Maduro to Trump’s increasingly insistent (and apparently serious) intimations that Greenland could be next.

FASHION

Lauren Sherman joins Peter to explain why Saks Global is now staring down bankruptcy—and what, if anything, could save its historic department store business. Then they turn to Will Welch’s sudden exit as GQ’s top editor and the shortlist of candidates who could replace him.

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