Hollywood’s Juice List, Ohio’s Civil War, Freedman’s Reality Check

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon compendium of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, John Ourand collects the inside chatter swirling around sports front offices surrounding ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro and the bake-off to succeed Bob Iger at Disney. Plus, a punchy primer on new Spulu chief Pete Distad.

Then, below the fold: Lauren Sherman chronicles the luxury fashion house scramble to hoover up prime New York real estate. Eriq Gardner penetrates the cluster of lawsuits threatening to alter the essence of reality TV. Peter Hamby unpacks whether a TikTok ban might shake up Biden’s reelection bid. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw rank entertainment’s most influential figures in their first official Hollywood Power List. And on The Powers That Be, Abby Livingston joins Peter to distill the high-stakes Senate races in Montana and Ohio, where MAGA Republicans are squaring off against the G.O.P.’s remnant establishment wing.

JOHN OURAND

News and notes on the topics percolating around arena corporate suites as March Madness beckons: the groundswell of support, no matter how fantastical, for Pitaro as the Iger succession process begins, and Pete Distad steps into Spulu.

LAUREN SHERMAN

The macro convulsions in luxury—consolidation, tremendous profit generation, preparation for an inevitable decline—are all wrapped up in what’s happening uptown right now with the old Barneys New York building.

ERIQ GARDNER

With a cluster of high-profile lawsuits targeting the ‘Real Housewives’ universe, entertainment litigator Bryan Freedman is aiming to permanently shift the balance of power between TV producers and reality stars.

PETER HAMBY

The usual suspects in Washington fear that young voters could protest the 2024 election if Biden bans TikTok—a supposition accepted at face value by pundits, despite the available evidence. Yes, there are polls showing young people oppose a ban. But that’s not predictive of how Gen Z will vote.