Ben Shapiro’s Exodus & Lively’s Lawyer Speaks!

Billionaire Bankruptcy Moves, Murdoch-Vox Deal Heat, New York’s Gallery Avalanche

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know…

In the Room: This year alone, Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire has shed 80,000 YouTube subscribers, laid off 42 employees, and was recently dismissed by Tucker Carlson as “going out of business.” Dylan Byers breaks down how a MAGA vibe shift rocked one of the right’s flagship media properties. [Read More]
Dry Powder: Facing an alleged $1 billion extortion attempt by a former paramour—and a dismal Bucks season—billionaire NBA owner Wes Edens is trying to restructure his overleveraged natural gas company, New Fortress Energy, in London. Bill Cohan spotlights the U.K. workaround that’s becoming the financial machination du jour for distressed American businesses. [Read More]
Wall Power: Frieze, TEFAF, and the Independent Art Fair are converging in Manhattan this week, and the city’s galleries are trying to take advantage of the scrum. Marion Maneker tours the must-see openings, from Helen Frankenthaler at Gagosian to Schoelkopf’s 1960s commemoration. [Read More]
Line Sheet: There’s a bizarre absence of luxury lingerie brands at the top of the market beyond Eres, the Chanel-owned gold standard. Sarah Shapiro scrutinizes the white space and the brands trying to fill the void. [Read More]

Meanwhile, on the pods…

The Town: Matt Belloni sits down with litigator Michael Gottlieb to discuss the latest in the Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni battle and the myriad lessons from this interminable saga. [Listen Here]
The Varsity: John Ourand rings up Business Insider’s Peter Kafka to assess ESPN’s impact on Disney’s bottom line and what to expect from the NFL’s looming media rights negotiations. [Listen Here]
The Powers That Be: Peter Hamby and Jon Kelly chew over James Murdoch’s shocking but unsurprising bid for Vox Media’s most valuable assets, and explore a surprising wrinkle in the NFL’s attempt to bid up its broadcast partners. [Listen Here]

MEDIA

Dylan Byers

The Ben Commandments

The sudden, precipitous decline of Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire—with its sweeping layoffs and a steep drop-off in audience—has actually been a long time coming. And while it’s easy to point to MAGA’s shift away from Israel, its co-C.E.O.’s dream of producing an Arthurian fantasy series isn’t helping either.

WALL STREET

William D. Cohan

East of Edens

Wes Edens, the billionaire entrepreneur and NBA owner, is attempting to restructure New Fortress Energy in London, where the courts are much friendlier to equity holders—the hot new trend for American companies, and a potential win for Edens, who is otherwise having a pretty bad week.

ART

Marion Maneker

Art Gangs of New York

As thousands of art tourists throng Manhattan for the planetary alignment of Frieze, TEFAF, and the Independent art fairs, endless gallery exhibitions are opening to capture their share of this river of capital. Herewith, a guided tour through some of the shows you won’t want to miss.

FASHION

Sarah Shapiro

The Week in Shopping: The Eres Tour

The luxury lingerie market has become fashion’s strangest white space, with women spending four figures on handbags, shoes, and skincare still finding themselves under the fluorescent lights at Nordstrom when they need a beautiful, exquisitely made, everyday bra.

HOLLYWOOD

Matthew Belloni

A Sit-Down With Blake Lively’s Lead Litigator

Matt is joined by litigator Michael Gottlieb to unpack the latest news in the Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni battle, who actually won, why the saga isn’t over yet, if there is any regret for how things have unfolded, how much Ryan Reynolds was involved, and the lessons from this case.

SPORTS

John Ourand

The Future of ESPN

Business Insider’s Peter Kafka joins John for a deep dive into ESPN’s effect on Disney’s bottom line. Kafka explains why Disney chief Josh D’Amaro ultimately decided against spinning ESPN into a separate company, and looks into what needs to happen for his position to change. The two also highlight the new creator economy in sports media and handicap what’s likely to happen during the NFL’s media rights negotiations.

MEDIA

Peter Hamby

Jon Kelly

The Powers that Be Daily, Starring Peter Hamby

Media Monday: Murdoch’s Vox Thesis & An NFL Surprise

Amid their own pivot to video, besties Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite to chew over James Murdoch’s shocking but unsurprising bid for Vox Media’s most valuable assets. Then the duo weigh in on a surprising wrinkle in the NFL’s attempt to bid up its broadcast partners.

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