Good morning, Thanks for reading The Backstory, your weekend review of the best new work emanating from Puck. Our hearts remain with the Los Angeles communities impacted by last week’s fires, which are still burning but seem to finally be under control. We encourage all Puck subscribers to support the worthy groups, like this one, playing a part in the recovery effort. Despite the continued heartache, it was another incredible week at Puck: Matt Belloni broke the news of Greta Gerwig’s special Netflix concession; Bill Cohan chatted with Bill Ackman about his Buffett envy; Lauren Sherman revealed that the Proenza boys were becoming Loewe men; Sarah Shapiro interviewed the Nap Dress empress; Rachel Strugatz dug into a Charlotte Tilbury beef; John Ourand peered into Maverick Carter’s dealbook; Marion Maneker reported on the latest Pinault intrigue; Julie Davich detailed an art world brokerage play; Dylan Byers assessed the Zucker acolyte now running MSNBC; and Eriq Gardner examined an A.I. suit for the ages. Meanwhile, Tara Palmeri investigated the Elon vibe shift; Peter Hamby assessed the political quagmire in Los Angeles; and Matt, Peter, and John Heilemann explained how the politicization of the fires will play out amid Trump II. Check out these stories, and others, via the links below. And stick around for the backstory on how it all came together.

Lauren Sherman details the latest game of designer musical chairs and explores the fashion industry’s post-fire anxieties. and… Rachel Strugatz unpacks Charlotte Tilbury’s last stand against dupes. meanwhile… Sarah Shapiro chats with Nell Diamond about life after the Nap Dress.

Marion Maneker offers a talmudic reading of the Christie’s C.E.O. switcheroo. and… Julie Davich reveals Gurr Johns’ new brokerage business.

Matt Belloni breaks the news of Netflix’s Greta Gerwig concession and talks with Peter Hamby and John Heilemann about the impact of the fires on the industry.

Eriq Gardner previews an A.I. lawsuit for the ages.

Bill Cohan calculates the extent of Wall Street’s patience with Musk and convenes with Bill Ackman about his Berkshire-style play.

Dylan Byers presages the Rebecca Kutler era at MSNBC. and… John Ourand examines the financing of Maverick Carter’s new NBA competitor.

Tara Palmeri unveils the de-Vivek-ification of Trumpworld. and… Peter Hamby assesses the burgeoning battle between Bass, Newsom, and Trump.

Last Saturday morning, shortly after this email landed in your inbox, I rang up an old friend from L.A. who’d been deeply impacted by the Palisades fire. I wanted to say hello and check in, see if there was any way I could help him and his family, or simply attempt to take his mind off the tragedy for a moment—perhaps even make him laugh. Remarkably, he was in good spirits—in some state of shock, of course, but filled with gratitude that he had lost possessions and not loved ones. Given his vortex of experiences across politics and the entertainment industry, we naturally began talking about the broader cultural implications of the disaster. Recognizing that the fires had disproportionately impacted some of the wealthiest real estate in Los Angeles, he offered a biting and yet entirely shrewd observation: that so-called insurance advocates were quickly becoming the new Varsity Blues-style college counselors in Southern California. Indeed, these for-hire pit bulls presaged many of the political, legal, and financial battles that are looming around the corner as we enter the next chapter of the recovery. He has a point, after all. Mere days after the flames erupted, we were already seeing the fallout of their politicization: L.A. mayor Karen Bass had inexplicably traveled to Ghana before the initial blaze, despite early reports of historic wind events amid a particularly dry winter. Her erstwhile foe, Rick Caruso, seems ready to run against her—if she can even make it to a campaign before getting recalled. Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom was already ostensibly cognizant that federal aid would come with standard caveats of Trumpian politics, a game he’d played during Covid. And there were the implications for the entertainment industry, the forthcoming Olympics, and the multi-hundred-billion-dollar resurrection of one of the most prized patches of soil on Earth. I mentioned to my pal a detail from my partner Marion Maneker’s excellent private email, Wall Power: Art insurance executives were already signaling that they were going to dig in regarding the underwritten value of various works. There is no Kelley Blue Book for fine art. Shortly after our chat, I texted my partner Peter Hamby, one of the great political bards of our day, who had been narrating the horrors of the fire on his podcast, The Powers That Be. In a brief exchange, I wondered if he could dig into these questions. Was Bass cooked? Were L.A. heavies furious at Jeffrey Katzenberg, late of Biden fundraising fame, for supporting her candidacy? Would Newsom be able to manage the twin responsibility of the recovery effort and the negotiation with the White House? You get the idea. On Monday, Peter finished his extraordinary story, The Blood Is in the Water for Karen Bass—truly one of the most exceptional pieces of journalism that Puck has ever published. The piece lyrically and definitively answers these questions, among others, while delicately capturing the outrage and harrowing emotionality of the event. “If it is true that she left the country on a Saturday after the warning came out, that is a dereliction of duty,” Endeavor C.E.O. Ari Emanuel, who donated to Bass’s 2022 campaign, told Peter. UTA super-agent Jay Sures, one of Caruso’s biggest donors, was even more adamant: “To me, it’s utter incompetence at the highest level with the mayor’s office. The fact that she was not here on standby and ready to go? It’s unforgivable.” Only a few days later, Peter collaborated with our partners Matt Belloni and John Heilemann, two native Angelenos, on an equally breathtaking piece, L.A., to Hell and Back, which captures and hypothesizes on the role of the fires in Hollywood and the White House in all their granularity. It’s a heart-pounding read, filled with stunning insights about our current era of disinformation, tech bros, and the politicization of, well, everything. We were equally proud to publish it. This weekend, I’d suggest you turn your attention to either of these pieces, if not both. They’ll offer you a vivid and concise understanding of how this unfolding tragedy will impact every meaningful industry in our culture. And when you’re done, I hope you’ll consider making a donation to one of the many charities that are supporting the recovery. This is truly the story of our time—and, indeed, one of the defining ones of our age—and precisely what you should expect to read about in Puck.

Have a great weekend, Jon

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