Trump’s Ballot Dilemma, Life After Madewell, Townie Awards Pt. II

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon brochure featuring Puck’s latest reporting.

First up today, Matt Belloni crowns Hollywood’s Hero of the Year, a veteran executive whose remarkable ingenuity was a beacon during an otherwise hellish year for the entertainment industry. Is he a potential Bob Iger successor hiding in plain sight?

Plus, below the fold: Tina Nguyen teases out the strategy behind the Biden impeachment inquiry. Lauren Sherman rummages through a pressing end-of-year mailbag of fashion industry questions. On The Town, Matt and Lucas Shaw co-host Part Two of the second annual Townie Awards. And on The Powers That Be, Eriq Gardner joins Ben Landy to probe the Colorado court decision to ban Trump from the ballot, before zeroing in on the M&A regulatory conundrum du jour.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Ynon Kreiz, the veteran executive who restructured Mattel and bet its future on the Barbie movie (and the tenuous I.P. business), has the experience and momentum to be a potential replacement for Bob Iger, despite a checkered past with Disney. At the very least, Kreiz is the Hollywood Hero of the Year.

TINA NGUYEN

Predictably, the multipronged Biden impeachment inquiry looks to be turning up duds. But the Republicans I talk to aren’t all that worried or embarrassed. This whole thing may have been less of a boobie trap than a dress rehearsal for giving the old man hell.

LAUREN SHERMAN

Answers to all your burning mailbag questions and beyond as we sail into ’24.

MATTHEW BELLONI

In Part 2 of the exclusive Townie Awards, Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw select their Winner of the Year in Hollywood, and give out a number of additional awards, including Executive Fail of the Year, Low-Key Flex, Movie Marketing Miss of the Year, The “Did I Say That Out Loud” Award for Worst Quote, the Mea Culpa I Was Wrong Award, as well as the Suck It Haters I Was Right Award, and more.