Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon medley of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Eriq Gardner digs into the atypical, precedent-setting, $80 million legal battle surrounding Kevin Spacey’s exit from House of Cards after the disgraced actor was accused of sexually aggressive behavior. As Eriq notes, the case hinges on a provocative question: Is sexual compulsion actually a “sickness”? No matter what the jury decides, Spacey’s forthcoming, likely brutal cross-examination will be the centerpiece of the six-week trial beginning later this month…

Plus, below the fold: Peter Hamby presents new polling data on ICE’s reputational nosedive among liberals and Trump supporters. Ian Krietzberg offers 10 provocative predictions about the A.I. industry in the year ahead. Marion Maneker previews an exhibition of the groundbreaking feminist artist Joan Semmel at the Jewish Museum. Sarah Shapiro considers the fate of Madewell following C.E.O. Adrienne Lazarus’s ouster. And exclusively for Inner Circle members, Julia Alexander explains why micropayments could be the future of sports.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand is joined by OBB Media C.E.O. Michael Ratner on The Varsity to discuss his new venture with Michael Rubin’s Fanatics. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Zootopia 2 writer Jared Bush break down why the sequel was such a success. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Julia Alexander parse the details of Google’s A.I. partnership with Apple.

HOLLYWOOD

The disgraced actor is soon expected to sit for a brutal cross-examination in the rare Hollywood insurance dispute that has actually made it to trial. A potentially huge payout hinges on whose version of House of Cards’s ending prevails.

WASHINGTON

Outside the right-wing echo chamber, polls tell the true story of an unprecedented drop in support for Trump’s immigration agency, which has swung 30 points in 12 months.

A.I.

Mass adoption, steep contraction, and the fruits of Apple’s waiting game are all part of the coming year in artificial intelligence.

ART

A career-spanning new exhibit of Joan Semmel captures an artist challenging conventional nudes, addressing women’s liberation, and making her own depictions of sexuality, aging, and herself.

FASHION

With a series of departures and more product inconsistency, the once-mighty J.Crew sister brand continues its search for a narrative that will stick. Might it be time for its parentco to explore other opportunities?

SPORTS

The legal battle between Disney and Dish Network over Sling TV’s “Day Pass” belies a much more pressing question facing networks and distributors: How do you engage diehard and casual sports fans in an era of unlimited choice?

SPORTS

Michael Ratner, C.E.O. of OBB Media, joins John to discuss Fanatics Studios, his new joint venture with Michael Rubin’s Fanatics focused on producing sports content across feature films, documentaries, and live events. Ratner explains how they plan to leverage Fanatics’ deep athlete relationships and league partnerships to disrupt the sports content market—and offers his read on where sports media is headed writ large.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Jared Bush, the writer and co-director of Zootopia 2 and chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, to discuss the smash-hit sequel, its incredible success in China, the state of original animated films in theaters, A.I. and other challenges facing the animation industry, incorporating adult humor into animated films, plans for a third and fourth Frozen, and more.

A.I.

Julia Alexander reunites with Peter to explain why Facebook’s most viral content is now dominated by A.I.-generated slop—and what that means for advertisers weighing brand safety against reach. Then they dig into Google’s ballooning market cap and its new deal with Apple, as Google’s Gemini will power Siri’s long-overdue upgrade and Google’s monopolistic grip on smartphone software gets even tighter.

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