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Zaslav’s Superlawyer on Biden, Cuomo & Bryan Freedman

Daniel Petrocelli became an entertainment law celebrity for beating O.J., saving Superman, and clearing the way for Zaz’s media empire. His next slate of cases could determine the future of publishing, and of Hollywood itself.

Daniel Petrocelli
Attorney Daniel Petrocelli. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
July 18, 2022

On August 1, the Department of Justice will begin a trial aimed at blocking the $2.1 billion sale of Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House. It’s easy to look at this case, as my Puck partner Bill Cohan recently did, and mock how the Biden administration has decided to go to the mattresses to maximize the money paid up front to authors for book publishing rights. I mean, launching an antitrust war over book advances at a time of $5-a-gallon gas—seriously?!