Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon pocket guide to Puck’s best new reporting. First up today, Matt Belloni connects with Kim Masters, the legendary Hollywood journalist and soon-to-be author at Puck, to unpack all the most pertinent questions surrounding Bob Iger and ABC News’s stunning decision to pay Donald Trump $15 million to settle a defamation suit. As Kim states in no uncertain terms, “This is a big effing deal,” and not just for ABC News… Plus, below the fold: Tara Palmeri offers an exclusive first look at Trump’s lawsuit accusing pollster Ann Selzer of “brazen election interference.” Lauren Sherman chats with Skims C.E.O. Jens Grede about turning Kim Kardashian’s shapewear avocation into a fully realized category leader. And John Ourand connects with NBC fantasy football guru Matthew Berry to discuss the new economics of on-air talent. Meanwhile, in the Puck podcast universe: On Fashion People, Lauren is joined by Basic.Space founder Jesse Lee to discuss why young consumers are obsessing over furniture instead of fashion. On The Town, Matt reunites with Lucas Shaw to consider the ramifications of David Zaslav splitting WBD in two. On Impolitic, John Heilemann huddles up with revered writer/editor/producers Kurt Andersen and Michael Hirschorn to take stock of the Trump era in our culture. On The Grill Room, veteran legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins Dylan Byers to explain why ABC decided to settle. And on The Powers That Be, Eriq Gardner sits down with Peter Hamby to dissect the warning shot that the Selzer lawsuit sends to Trump’s adversaries.

In this frank and insidery conversation, Matt and Kim consider all the angles surrounding Bob Iger’s remarkable $15 million settlement slash concession to Trump—a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for Disney’s media empire. Kim discusses the ripple effects it might have for ABC News, from the network’s editorial independence to its ability to navigate the political landscape. Then they turn to George Stephanopoulos’s own future, and whether the settlement jeopardizes the star anchor’s profile at the network amid shifting corporate priorities. Is this the beginning of the end for one of ABC’s most recognizable faces? Read Now

On Monday evening, Trump filed a stunning lawsuit against Ann Selzer—the “oracular” Iowa pollster whose final pre-election survey incorrectly found Kamala Harris leading Trump in the state—for “brazen election interference” and consumer fraud. Tara was the first journalist to get eyes on the boundary-pushing legal theory articulated by Trump’s lawyers, and the first to report that the suit had been filed—an unprecedented extrapolitical maneuver designed to intimidate pollsters, as well as journalists, ahead of his return to the Oval. Read Now

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Jens Grede, the C.E.O. of Skims and half of the powerhouse husband-wife team behind the Kardashian D.T.C. empire, sits down with Lauren to explain the remarkable ascent of Kim’s shapewear company: how it redefined an entire product class, what it means to create a “celebrity brand,” and why Skims became more than just a cultural phenomenon. Lauren and Jens also touch on all the I.P.O. chatter and the delicate art of scaling a business while maintaining relevance in an attention-deficit marketplace. Read Now

NBC Sports commentator, Fantasy Life proprietor, and former ESPNer Matthew Berry offers his unfiltered analysis of the recent trend of on-air talent attempting to leverage their personal brand outside of the media entities that employ them. Berry also explains why he believes Stephen A. deserves every penny he’s asking for, who he sees as the biggest “needle-movers” in the sports TV landscape, how one becomes a “needle-mover” in the first place, and, of course, his exit from ESPN after refusing to disassociate from Fantasy Life. Read Now

Lauren is joined by Basic.Space founder and chairman of Design Miami, Jesse Lee, to discuss why young consumers are obsessing over furniture instead of fashion. They also run through the news of the week, including Matthieu Blazy’s appointment at Chanel, Capri’s potential sell-off of Versace, Rhode beauty versus Rhode fashion, and eau de Trump. Listen Now

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss why Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to separate its TV networks unit from movies and streaming and what this could signal for the company moving forward. Later, they discuss ABC News’s decision to settle Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit for $15 million and whether Disney will operate any differently under the Trump administration. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the sports bundle Venu. Listen Now

John is joined by writer/editor/producers Kurt Andersen and Michael Hirschorn to take stock of the Trump era in our politics and culture. The three friends discuss the once-and-future president’s reelection, his cabinet picks (one of whom, Kurt reveals, was his college cocaine dealer), and the ways in which the logic of reality TV not only explains the Trump phenomenon but that of Elon Musk, R.F.K. Jr., and Luigi Mangione. Kurt and Michael also riff on the books, movies, and TV shows that floated their boats this year, from Wicked and Somebody Somewhere to Kendrick Lamar’s GNX. Listen Now

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins Dylan to scrutinize ABC News’s $15 million settlement with Trump, which has everyone in the political-media industry abuzz about the signal this sends to MAGA and its adversaries. While many perceived this to be a very winnable case for ABC News, their striking decision to settle for such a high price tag has led to a myriad of questions surrounding the media climate as we head into Trump 2.0. Listen Now

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to break down ABC News and Disney's $15 million decision to settle the defamation lawsuit brought by Trump. He also dives into Trump’s freshly filed lawsuit against former pollster Ann Selzer and whether other pollsters could face similar lawsuits. Listen Now

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