Ari’s Take-Private, R.F.K. Jr.’s Curveball, Estée Turbulence

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

First up today, Matt Belloni delivers a bracing antidote to Hollywood’s post-strike magical thinking, with an unflinching look at the fresh hell awaiting the industry once everyone finally gets back to work.

Plus, below the fold: Lauren Sherman investigates the mystery of Estée Lauder’s two-year slump. Tara Palmeri tracks the collateral damage from ’24 third-party campaigns. On The Town, Matt and Bethanny Frankel discuss the often abusive and oppressive working conditions on reality shows. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Dylan Byers clock the hiccups in WaPo’s C.E.O. chase, while Ben Landy and Bill Cohan inspect Ari Emanuel’s take-private effort.

MATTHEW BELLONI

What should be a time of relief and celebration as the SAG-AFTRA negotiations near their end is more akin to what soldiers experience in countless war movies—the horrors of battle are giving way to the equally grim reality of the new world for which they fought.

LAUREN SHERMAN

On the past, present, and uncertain future of Estée Lauder.

TARA PALMERI

As we chug further along toward a predictable presidential contest between unpopular Boomer candidates, the likelihood of fringe third-party candidates shaking up the race is becoming increasingly inevitable. Among the questions around town: Could Biden face a Perot, or a Nader?

MATTHEW BELLONI

Matt is joined by entrepreneur, media personality, and former Bravo star Bethenny Frankel to discuss the abusive and oppressive working conditions on reality shows, the mistreatment of their participants, and why she is pushing for the unionization of reality TV.