Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon medley of Puck’s best new reporting. Today, we lead with Eriq Gardner’s close inspection of the latest developments in the explosive P.R. and legal saga surrounding Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni—and how Baldoni’s somewhat dubious $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times might play out. His case faces long odds, but the Times isn’t out of danger, either… Plus, below the fold: Sarah Shapiro chronicles an affiliate marketing turf war for our times. Marion Maneker circles the art market’s most pressing 2025 themes and concerns. Tara Palmeri gets international MAGA ambassador Raheem Kassam on the blower to decipher Elon Musk’s burgeoning fixation with the U.K. On The Varsity, Eriq joins John Ourand to dissect Disney’s crafty ploy to hoover up Fubo. And on The Powers That Be, Eriq connects with Peter Hamby to walk through Baldoni’s legal volley against the Times and the Chinese subplot behind Trump’s campaign to save TikTok.

Just hours before the ball dropped in Times Square to usher in the new year, Justin Baldoni filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the paper of collaborating with Blake Lively’s team to publish a sensationalized story about the events surrounding the shooting of It Ends With Us. Even if the Times made an error—or implied that Baldoni was guilty of sexual harassment—how much responsibility does the paper actually bear for presenting Lively’s version of events? As Eriq observes, the legal community is particularly mystified that Baldoni’s attorney, the ubiquitous entertainment lawyer Bryan Freedman, chose to file in California—which has a robust anti-SLAPP law. But perhaps Freedman is searching for a favorable precedent or believes he has a better chance on his home turf. In any event, this metastasizing legal saga no longer just involves stars and their lawyers—now, publicists for the reporters and lawyers for the publicists are entering the fray. Read Now

“One of the Best Pictures of the Year,” CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive events – selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church. Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE is nominated for 11 Critics Choice Awards including Best Film. Your Choice Changes Everything. CONCLAVE for your consideration in all categories.

The rise of fashion and beauty commerce platform LTK reads like a bildungsroman from the influencer canon. The platform was founded in 2011, envisioning a future where hobbyist creators could become their own authentic recommendation engines, using their influence and credibility to lead to direct sales. Now, for the first time, a true challenger to LTK has emerged in ShopMy, which has attempted to differentiate itself by curating a more selective network of influencers, and is now looking to raise $60 million in a Series B… Read Now

Five main themes keep emerging in early 2025 predictions of the art market: Gains in the equity markets will translate into art sales; demand from the Middle East will revive the upper end of the market; a new generation of wealthy people in India will raise the status and value of Indian art and artists; private sales will continue to sustain the art market amid the auction drought; and a new market narrative needs to emerge. Marion takes a stab at addressing each of them, evaluating their feasibility. As he notes, what’s interesting here is less about what turns out to be correct, but rather what these prognostications can teach us about the mood of the art market writ large. Read Now

Having already successfully inserted himself into U.S. politics, Elon Musk is now turning an eye toward a few of the major powers in Europe. Last week, he spent several days on X attacking Keir Starmer, Britain’s Labour prime minister, while simultaneously praising the right-wing populist Reform UK party of Nigel Farage, the Brexit artist who has become a fairly common sight at Mar-a-Lago, while also saying Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party. For insight on Elon’s latest misadventure, Tara rang up Raheem Kassam, a former advisor to Farage who has become a fixture in the MAGA multiverse, to discuss why Elon is suddenly taking an interest in the U.K., what he doesn’t grasp about Farage, and why he should keep his fortune out of British politics altogether. Read Now

Puck’s legal expert Eriq Gardner joins John to break down the year’s first huge M&A earthquake: Disney cutting a deal to merge its Hulu+Live TV with Fubo. What does the combination mean for ESPN’s own planned streaming service, Flagship? And what’s next for Venu Sports? Then Eriq and John turn to how a combined Hulu+Fubo product might actually work… Listen Now

“One of the Best Pictures of the Year,” CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive events – selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church. Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE is nominated for 11 Critics Choice Awards including Best Film. Your Choice Changes Everything. CONCLAVE for your consideration in all categories.

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to walk through the explosive P.R. and legal war engulfing Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni—including Baldoni’s $250 million counterattack against The New York Times. Then the duo uncover the China subplot behind Trump’s campaign to force the Supreme Court to delay a ban on TikTok. Listen Now

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