The Return of Peggy Siegal, Dalio’s Dilemma, and Russian War Games
Good afternoon and welcome back to The Daily Courant, bringing you the latest and most important journalism being produced at Puck.
Then, below the fold: Kremlinologist Julia Ioffe assesses the rising threat of war in Eastern Ukraine and attempts to answer the perennial question: what does Vladimir Putin actually want?
Two years after Siegal’s association with Jeffrey Epstein made her persona non grata, the famed events publicist is reappearing at Oscars events. With the Ghislaine Maxwell trial in full swing, I was reminded of the many connections between Jeffrey Epstein and various Hollywood people. That, of course, got me thinking about Peggy Siegal, the NYC event planner and awards-season publicist whose entanglements with Epstein spilled into public when he was arrested and jailed in 2019. After Epstein’s previous incarceration for soliciting a prostitute, Siegal had facilitated her friend’s return to elite entertainment circles via invites to her star-studded events. So when the toxic connections were made public, Siegal became persona non grata among the studios that once hired her during Oscar season. One of New York’s most public people essentially went into hiding.
But two years and one pandemic later, someone sent me a Peggy sighting from Searchlight’s Nightmare Alley premiere at Lincoln Center last week. She was also spotted at Amazon’s Being the Ricardos event as a guest of her longtime pal, journalist Roger Friedman. That led me to wonder, is Peggy Siegal back? And if so, are studios working with her this season?
So I called her up…
FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
As with most public breakups, there’s more to this story of bruised egos and a botched timeline.
MATT BELLONI
Ironically, the greatest risk to Russia stems from Putin’s own paranoid fantasies. But the danger of escalation is all too real.
JULIA IOFFE
Reflections on our gun violence epidemic, blockchain democracy, buying the Constitution, and rebuilding America in the metaverse.
BARATUNDE THURSTON
Observations on the latest Wall Street gossip and market signals as our twelve-year bull market begins to turn.
WILLIAM D. COHAN |