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

Today, we lead with Matt Belloni’s exclusive study looking at whether Leonardo DiCaprio, on the precipice of 51, is still Hollywood’s unicorn talent. While Leo’s projects have grossed more than $7 billion since 1997 (without a sequel or superhero movie sullying his IMDb), the study found that the Oscar winner’s star power has faded slightly as a new crop of leading men has arrived. Bad news, maybe, for his upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film, One Battle After Another. But the numbers suggest DiCaprio remains Hollywood’s most valuable combination of respected actor and box office draw.

Plus, below the fold: Ian Krietzberg chronicles the impact of A.I.’s encroachment into higher ed. Julia Ioffe breaks down America’s scrambled response to Putin’s latest NATO provocation. John Ourand gets the readout from the NBA board of governors meeting. And exclusively for Inner Circle members, Lauren Sherman connects the dots between the Massenet–Torstensson legal nightmare and the Nike–Skims deal.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Dylan Byers and Julia Alexander huddle up on The Grill Room to discuss the Murdoch succession and the future of Fox and News Corp. On Fashion People, Lauren is joined by J.Crew C.E.O. Libby Wadle to parse the myriad challenges of running a retail business in 2025. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Julia Alexander offer an early-season assessment of the NFL’s broadcasts.

HOLLYWOOD

For years, DiCaprio has been the pinnacle of Hollywood: a prestige movie star who can actually open movies, with grosses of more than $7 billion. But as Leo hits 50 and starts promoting One Battle After Another, does he still have the same power? A new study runs the numbers.

A.I.

A bracing roundtable with professors and academics about how A.I. has invaded their classrooms, whether it’s incompatible with the aims of higher education, and their recently published open letter calling on universities to reject the use of generative A.I. in schools.

WASHINGTON

Having had his way with Trump, Putin is testing NATO’s mettle with over a dozen drones in Polish airspace. Is it an invasion, a provocation, or simply a way to highlight America’s hollow institutions and empty promises?

SPORTS

As the NBA gathered media partners for its board meeting this week, one thing became clear: This year, viewing is going to be more complicated, more fragmented, and more expensive than ever before. Adam Silver wants to make sure that his media partners can work together amicably to mitigate some of the complaints.

FASHION

It would take years of psychoanalysis to determine why Natalie Massenet took the lawsuit route in her breakup with business and life partner Erik Torstensson. In the meantime, everyone is paying attention to their other baby: Skims…

MEDIA

Julia and Dylan chew over the latest machinations along the media waterfront: Rupert Murdoch’s succession denouement and the future of Fox and News Corp, how The Atlantic is faring in the new media landscape, the latest angst percolating through Hudson Yards, and  much more.

FASHION

Lauren’s guest today is Libby Wadle, C.E.O. of J.Crew Group. They dig into Libby’s path from shopgirl to C.E.O., her method for working with creative people, the challenges of running a retail business in 2025, and much more. Libby also explains why she thinks the culture is breeding so many cable-knit sweaters on the runway.

SPORTS

Julia Alexander joins Peter for a check-in on the NFL’s broadcasts so far this season, and whether streamers like Peacock and YouTube are actually showcasing the NFL better than the traditional networks. Julia also breaks down the mounting tensions between A.I. companies and publishers, as search engines stumble in the shadow of chatbots and A.I. tools like Gemini and ChatGPT.

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