Happy Friday, and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon assortment of Puck’s best new reporting. First up today, Matt Belloni digs into the latest obstacles facing the Paramount-Skydance merger as F.C.C. boss Brendan Carr opens a public comment docket over the 60 Minutes “scandal.” The Redstone and Ellison families’ Trump ties were supposed to neutralize this very threat. Now, both parties are watching the clock as their $8 billion deal faces yet another delay… Plus, below the fold: Tara Palmeri sits down with Senator John Fetterman to discuss his beef with Democrats. John Ourand explores Roger Goodell’s billion-dollar fantasy of adding an 18th game to the NFL’s regular season. And in an exclusive Inner Circle dispatch, Lauren Sherman unearths the drama inside Gucci following creative director Sabato De Sarno’s ouster. Meanwhile, on the pods: Dylan Byers grills Nick Thompson, C.E.O. of The Atlantic, about the inevitable convergence of journalism and A.I. On Fashion People, Lauren hears from former Harper’s Bazaar editors Cynthia True and Dennis Golonka about their new book on the late, great Liz Tilberis. On Impolitic, John Heilemann huddles up with Ezra Klein to dissect Trump’s blizzard of executive actions and power grabs. And on The Powers That Be, Eriq Gardner joins Peter Hamby to assess the legal firestorm surrounding the Paramount sale.

HOLLYWOOD

David Ellison & Co. once thought they’d close the Paramount-Skydance transaction in the first quarter of 2025. Now, even the first half is looking iffy. With Trump suing CBS for $10 billion over the Kamala Harris 60 Minutes interview—and repeatedly saying that the network “should lose its license”—this merger review continues to be one of the strangest and least predictable in recent history. And the drama heated up this week, when Trump’s F.C.C. chair, Brendan Carr, opened a public comment docket over the 60 Minutes “scandal.” Will Carr cite the ostensible bias issue as a reason to kill the transfer of CBS licenses—and the Skydance deal, too? Read Now

WASHINGTON

Even among the legion of Democrats preaching the centrist gospel in the wake of Trump’s blunt-force victory over Washington, John Fetterman seems uniquely unconcerned about pointing fingers at his colleagues, offending resistance liberals, or shrugging off the president’s wrecking-ball approach to policy. He was the lone Democratic senator to journey to Mar-a-Lago, to vote to confirm Pam Bondi for A.G., and, most recently, to signal any openness to Trump’s harebrained proposition that the U.S. “take over” Gaza—something even his Republican colleagues found unamusing. In a candid conversation with Tara, Fetterman argues that Democrats have become too shrill, explains how the party alienated white men, and outlines his theory for when Congress should and shouldn’t fight back. Read Now

SPORTS

Among the most fascinating storylines emanating from Super Bowl week has been the changing conversation about adding an 18th game to the regular season. On Monday, Goodell tried to temper some of the optimism during his press conference, noting that any change to the schedule would be negotiated as part of the C.B.A., which runs to 2030. Meanwhile, in a separate press conference, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. asserted that “no one wants to play an 18th game.” But as John notes, an 18th game would create a new media rights package that could potentially generate another $1 billion in annual revenue. This is only the prelude to eventful contract negotiations to come… Read Now

FASHION

At around 11 a.m. in Milan on Wednesday, Gucci sent a memo that a new designer would be joining the studio and reporting to creative director Sabato De Sarno, who was slated to present his next collection in Milan on February 25. As it turns out, that show will be his last. Just a few hours later, De Sarno was informed that his run at Gucci had come to an end. All this was inevitable, probably from the moment De Sarno debuted his first, poorly received collection. But as Lauren notes, Kering has yet to sign a new creative director for the house—so who are the potential replacements? She offers a shortlist of potential candidates, including Hedi Slimane, who made magic with Kering at Saint Laurent before shoving off to LVMH, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, currently the womenswear designer at Dior. In any case, after years of declining sales and shrinking profits, the stakes for Gucci are high. Read Now

MEDIA

C.E.O. Nick Thompson joins Dylan for a candid conversation about the existential challenges of leading a media company, centered around the looming threats and opportunities of A.I. Nick envisions a media ecosystem where their web presence goes away, and lays out his growth strategy to mitigate the concerns: building the strongest possible direct relationships with readers while cutting out reliance on tech platforms altogether. Listen Now

FASHION

Lauren is joined by former Harper’s Bazaar editors Cynthia True and Dennis Golonka, hosts of Blow-Up: When Liz Tilberis Transformed Bazaar. They discuss what it was like to work at a glossy magazine in the 1990s (from the expense accounts to the dress code), how today’s fashion industry would be different if Liz were still around (she tragically died of cancer in 1999), and why they wanted to tell her story. Lauren also dips into what designer Sabato De Sarno’s sudden exit from Gucci means for parentco Kering. Listen Now

WASHINGTON

John is joined by New York Times columnist, podcaster, and idea merchant extraordinaire Ezra Klein to chop up his latest conversation-sparking Times essay “Don’t Believe Him,” about Donald Trump’s initial blizzard of executive actions, grifts, and power grabs. Ezra argues that, although Trump’s flurry of legal and constitutional trespasses has thrust us into dangerous new territory and poses risks to the country great and small, his behavior is more a reflection of political weakness than strength. Ezra also weighs in on whether Elon Musk is in fact more dangerous than Trump, if the courts will continue to hold the line for the rule of law, and whether Chuck Schumer is really the best possible face of the Democratic opposition. Listen Now

HOLLYWOOD

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to navigate the growing tide of legal challenges surrounding Trump’s contentious executive orders, and his efforts, along with Elon Musk, to reshape the federal government. Then Eriq shifts gears to dissect the mounting scrutiny on Shari Redstone’s bid to sell Paramount to Skydance, sparked by Trump’s shaky lawsuit against CBS News. Listen Now

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