Zaz’s CNN Controversy, Designer Musical Chairs, Putin’s Childhood Haunt

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

Today, we lead with Matt Belloni’s can’t-miss dissection of the new Weinstein case brought by British actress Julia Ormond against CAA and two of Hollywood’s most powerful agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, for allegedly enabling his monstrous predatory behavior in the ’90s.

Plus, below the fold: Tara Palmeri reality checks the restless fantasy of a Biden ’24 alternative. Lauren Sherman shrewdly observes the latest round of fashion designer musical chairs. On the second episode of Julia Ioffe’s superlative new podcast About A Boy, she chronicles Putin’s childhood in the dvor. On The Town, Matt sits down with WBD’s J.B. Perrette to unpack Max’s streaming sports strategy. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Bill Cohan explore Bill Ackman’s true interest in a deal for X, while Ben Landy and Dylan Byers chew over Zaz’s controversial CNN streaming strategy.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Actress Julia Ormond’s lawsuit against CAA raises troubling issues about the alleged enabling of abuse in the pre-#MeToo era—murkier, both legally and ethically—and the key subjects are Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, two of the most powerful agents in Hollywood.

TARA PALMERI

There’s only 10 days remaining for a Democratic challenger to get on the ballot in all 50 states, inflaming the anxieties of party insiders who quietly wish Biden would step aside. But a flailing Republican impeachment inquiry, and the speakership chaos in the House, are giving them hope for a rebound.

LAUREN SHERMAN

A final dispatch from Fashion Month, with all the late-stage dish: Prada chatter, the incessant Alessandro-LVMH speculation, the transition at McQueen and much more…

JULIA IOFFE

Soviet baby boomers are born into a country ravaged by war. Given that parents are largely absent—either dead, traumatized, or working to make ends meet—children spend most of their time in the dvor, the urban courtyard. The dvor is Vladimir Putin’s world.