Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon digest of Puck’s best new reporting. First up today, Dylan Byers digs into the leaked details of Substack’s renewed bid for investor dollars, as co-founders Hamish McKenzie and Chris Best try to sell the company’s future promise. But behind the glossy pitch deck lies some sobering signals: a challenging capital environment, a potentially flat valuation, and mounting questions about the platform’s long-term trajectory. Is the Substack era cresting before it ever truly peaked? Plus, below the fold: Leigh Ann Caldwell chronicles Trump’s aggressive effort to strong-arm senators into backing the Big Beautiful Bill. Bill Cohan tracks David Zaslav’s post-spinoff debt maneuvering to stabilize what’s left of WBD. Rachel Strugatz investigates the conspicuous absence of beauty superbanker Vennette Ho from the latest flurry of M&A activity. Julia Alexander dials up Tubi’s chief content officer, Adam Lewinson, to dissect the D.N.A. of the underdog streamer’s success. Marion Maneker explores the emergence of a major new art-secured lender taking on the auction houses. And on The Powers That Be, Julia and Bill break down the latest tremors in Shari Redstone’s precarious Paramount saga.

MEDIA

Leaked details about Substack’s new fundraise conjure deeper questions about the tech-platform-cum-writing-tool. For starters, is it a media company or a tech play? Read Now

WASHINGTON

The president is strategically withholding endorsements for senators who may need them to hold on to their seats. But would he risk losing the Republican majority—and face very real political consequences himself—for the sake of spite? Read Now

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

“Heartbreaking and Emotional. The Cast is Stellar.”

– The Wrap

[WATCH] A Masterclass in Casting Casting Director Tiffany Little Canfield, CSA sits down with Cooper Koch (Erik Menendez) and Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Lyle Menendez) as they share intimate insights into casting and embodying some of true crime's most complex figures. _____ For more on MONSTERS: THE LYLE & ERIK MENENDEZ STORY, visit series.netflixawards.com

WALL STREET

David Zaslav leveraged his way to media moguldom, then diligently paid down $21 billion of debt in three years, and is now making an unusual debt tender offer as part of the process of spinning out WBD’s linear TV assets. Is the offer really too good to refuse, or is it a coercive maneuver that leaves bondholders with little choice? Read Now

FASHION

A flurry of recent beauty biz M&A deals are notable not just because they’re more targeted and considered—the days of the bidding war are on the wane—but because they didn’t involve industry rainmaker Vennette Ho. Read Now

HOLLYWOOD

A wide-ranging chat with Tubi content chief Adam Lewinson about the spectacular growth of free ad-supported streaming, how Tubi got the Super Bowl, and the surprising breakout success of Sidelined. Read Now

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

“Heartbreaking and Emotional. The Cast is Stellar.”

– The Wrap

[WATCH] A Masterclass in Casting Casting Director Tiffany Little Canfield, CSA sits down with Cooper Koch (Erik Menendez) and Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Lyle Menendez) as they share intimate insights into casting and embodying some of true crime's most complex figures. _____ For more on MONSTERS: THE LYLE & ERIK MENENDEZ STORY, visit series.netflixawards.com

ART

With $1 trillion of art in private hands, and only 5 percent of it leveraged, the art market is nowhere near as liquid as other asset classes. A new art-secured lender, backed by the Nahmads and selling discretion, aims to change that. Read Now

WALL STREET

The inimitable Bill Cohan joins guest host Julia Alexander to chew over two of the great mysteries before Wall Street: the financial engineering of the Warner Bros. Discovery breakup, and whether Trump’s F.C.C. will bless Shari Redstone and David Ellison’s Paramount deal. Listen Now

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