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

Today, we lead with Matt Belloni’s definitive postmortem on Kathleen Kennedy’s controversial tenure overseeing the Star Wars franchise now that her departure from Lucasfilm is official. Over 14 years, she produced five films that collectively grossed more than $6 billion—along with decent output on Disney+. But the Kennedy era was also defined by scrapped projects, creative upheaval, and an inescapable sense that the franchise had lost its way. Can Dave Filoni right the (space)ship?

Plus, below the fold: Julia Ioffe digs into a major development in Washington’s mysterious Havana syndrome saga. John Ourand reveals how Fanatics Studios got in bed with the ESPYs. Ian Krietzberg explains how A.I. that mimics the human brain could radically transform the industry. And for Inner Circle members, Lauren Sherman identifies the likeliest casualties from Saks Global’s bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt invites Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s executive director, on The Town to discuss the possibility of another Hollywood strike. On The Grill Room, Dylan Byers and Julia Alexander break down CBS News’s “Whiskey Fridays” micro-drama. On Fashion People, Lauren is joined by New York Times reporters Jessica Testa and Michael Grynbaum to discuss the state of Condé Nast’s various titles. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Matt handicap the Oscar race ahead of nomination announcements.

HOLLYWOOD

As president of Lucasfilm, the producer oversaw five Star Wars films, a wave of TV shows… and a galaxy’s worth of abandoned projects and jilted filmmakers. With her exit finally official, is the franchise better off now than it was 14 years ago?

WASHINGTON

After years of denials, Washington is finally reckoning with new reporting that would seem to confirm the existence of the alleged Russian directed-energy weapon that causes Havana syndrome—or what the U.S. government now calls “anomalous health incidents.” But will Tulsi Gabbard be allowed to release the O.D.N.I.’s own findings?

SPORTS

ESPN is moving the ESPYs, its moribund 33-year-old awards franchise, to New York, sandwiched between MLB’s All-Star Game and Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest. It’s a savvy play.

A.I.

As the industry relentlessly scales up, a handful of smaller companies are pursuing new model architectures that could enable greater efficiency without sacrificing performance. But first, do we need to figure out how the brain actually works?

FASHION

Giambattista Valli’s singular focus on dresses was already anachronistic when the brand was founded in 2005. Amid reports this week that the Pinault family office has pulled its backing, the model may be effectively over.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland to discuss the union’s upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP, the possibility of another strike, what he wants to achieve in this negotiation, why they are starting their negotiations before other guilds, the state of A.I. disruptions, and what the actors actually want in their new C.B.A.

MEDIA

Dylan and Julia dig into the mess surrounding a potential corporate sponsorship of CBS News’s “Whiskey Fridays” with Tony Dokoupil, after an Evening News set featuring a Jack Daniel’s logo leaked online. The controversy also sparked a larger debate about whether corporate sponsorships lack journalistic integrity—or actually offer a viable lifeline to a news industry in perpetual decline.

FASHION

New York Times reporters Jessica Testa and Michael Grynbaum join Lauren for a very special episode about the current state of legacy publisher Condé Nast. (Remember, Michael wrote a book about Condé Nast called Empire of the Elite.) They discuss Will Welch’s exit from GQ (and potential replacements), if Mark Guiducci is doing a good job at Vanity Fair, and whether every Condé Nast editor is contractually obligated to thank H.R. lord Stan Duncan in their departure (or arrival) announcement.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt Belloni joins Peter, fresh off the Golden Globes last weekend, to game out the Oscar race ahead of next week’s Academy Award nominations. Matt identifies a handful of locks, flags a few surprises, and explains why Leo DiCaprio might have the edge over Timothée Chalamet for best actor.

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