Costner’s Event Horizon, Sotheby’s $105M Night, Arnault’s Richemont Toe Dip

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

First up today, Dylan Byers digs into the travails of America’s two most-discussed British media executives: Will Lewis, the embattled WaPo chief, who is holding on for dear life on K Street, and CNN’s Mark Thompson, and how he’s been prepping the network for today’s debate.

Plus, below the fold: William D. Cohan dissects Shari’s private equity temptation and the Bezos-Lewis “Third Newsroom” master plan. Lauren Sherman takes a close look at Bernard Arnault’s Richemont investment. On Somebody’s Gotta Win, Tara Palmeri and Politico’s Marc Caputo exchange inside notes ahead of tonight’s presidential debate. On The Town, Matt Belloni is joined by Mark Gill to break down the financing behind Kevin Costner’s Horizon magnum opus. And on The Powers That Be, Marion Maneker and Peter Hamby embark on a spirited rundown of the art market—particularly all the action emanating from the London sales.

Programming note: On July 10th in D.C., Peter will moderate an exclusive, data-driven panel discussion in partnership with Echelon Insights, revealing the latest voter trends ahead of the November election with a special focus on the outsize impact of women voters of the age of 50. Puck subscribers can click here to attend. Otherwise, click here to subscribe to Puck and email [email protected] for registration information.

DYLAN BYERS

News and notes on America’s two most-discussed British media executives: Mark Thompson, who is gearing up for Thursday’s debate; and Will Lewis, who is holding on for dear life on K Street.

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WILLIAM D. COHAN

News and notes on the dual obsessions of the Sconset set: whether Shari will reconsider the private equity pill and break up Paramount; and how Jeff Bezos and Will Lewis may be taking a page from Wall Street’s layoff playbook with their plan for a “third newsroom” at The Washington Post.

LAUREN SHERMAN

News and notes on the Arnaults’ Richemont investment and the paterfamilias’ magazine treatment.

TARA PALMERI

Tara is joined by Politico senior writer Marc Caputo, and they discuss the upcoming presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They discuss how it will be moderated and what a win would look like for each of them. They also talk about what each could do to get under their opponent’s skin.