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

Today, we lead with Eriq Gardner’s incisive analysis of the most pressing legal sagas of the new year: the latest twists in the Baldoni-Lively imbroglio, CNN’s surprising settlement in the Zachary Young defamation case, and Drake’s oblique showdown with Universal Musical Group over Kendrick
Lamar’s viral diss track “Not Like Us.” 

Plus, below the fold: Sarah Shapiro anticipates the commercial ceiling for athleisure juggernaut Vuori. Marion Maneker presents his insider’s guide to New York’s American Art Week catalog. John Heilemann connects with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to diagnose the roiling conflict between Donald Trump’s MAGA base and his tech
gazillionaire patrons. And Lauren Sherman reveals the fashion minds behind Usha Vance’s and Ivanka Trump’s inauguration attire.

Meanwhile, on the podcasts: John Ourand rings up NBC Sports’s Nicole Auerbach on The Varsity for a deep dive on the revamped 12-team College Football Playoff. On The Town, Matt Belloni spars with Lucas Shaw over
the fate of the 2025 box office. And on The Powers That Be, Eriq joins Peter Hamby to prognosticate the outcome in Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News’s 60 Minutes.

HOLLYWOOD

Drake just launched a blockbuster defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group for releasing and promoting
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a diss track that disparages the Canadian rapper as, among other things, a “certified pedophile.” Of course, in less than three weeks, Lamar is slated to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, where he’s expected to perform the record in front of 65,000 fans in New Orleans—and 100 million-plus watching on TV. Will Drake’s legal offensive persuade the NFL and Fox to stop Kendrick from performing the song? Then, Eriq evaluates two other legal sagas consuming the
media and entertainment industries: Justin Baldoni’s freshly filed 179-page countersuit against Blake Lively, and CNN’s decision to fork over at least $5 million after being found liable for defaming Navy veteran Zachary Young. 

Read Now

FASHION

If LinkedIn had a clothing line, it might look a lot like Vuori: bland, functional, and sufficiently airy for
crushing those quarterly all-hands from your remote location. And while the brand entered the zeitgeist via former lax bros who work at hedge funds and practice meditation for career advancement, to Vuori’s credit, it’s hard to find a premium North American shopping destination without a Vuori, or one coming soon. But Sarah raises a few concerns—about the expectations attached to SoftBank’s recent investment, the brand’s ability to sufficiently distinguish itself from category
competitors, and the founder’s eyebrow-raising claim that the company has never acquired customers at a loss. At a $5.5 billion valuation, can the San Diego brand sell enough comfortable, forgettable clothing to keep its investors happy?

Read Now

A MESSAGE FROM META

Open source AI is available to all, not just the few.

There
are about 3 billion medical imaging exams done per year with a 4% error rate—that's millions of patients.

The solution: "With Meta's free open source AI model, Llama, we built an AI tool to help catch radiology errors," says Dr. Clark.

Learn
more about how others are building with open source AI.

ART

American art may no longer get the kind of attention it used to, but that doesn’t mean the quality has declined.
Indeed, as the market has shifted away from “brown furniture,” silver, and folk art toward art by overlooked creators, the offerings have only become more interesting. This week’s American art sales in New York will feature some of the final lots from financier William Louis-Dreyfus’s outsider art collection, as well as some dealer stock from Just Folk, the gallery co-owned by sitcom producer Marcy Carsey. Marion flips through the catalog to profile some of the more fascinating
works on offer, from majestic Bierstadts to Paul Revere silver.

Read Now

WASHINGTON

It’s hard to think of an inauguration more eventful, newsy, or just plain weird than Donald Trump’s sequel
to the “American carnage” goat rodeo of 2017. Look no further than the fact that 45/47 delivered, in effect, two inaugural addresses: the scripted official rendition in the Capitol Rotunda, followed by a grievance-laden screed uncorked a few minutes later to supporters in the Capitol Visitor Center. To that end, who better to call than Joe Scarborough to unpack it all? When he’s not hosting four hours of daily television, Joe is pondering how Donald Trump did it again, and what that says about
American politics—and America itself. John connected with the former G.O.P. congressman after the ceremony to gab about Trump’s dark vision, the brewing battle between the MAGA base and the tech billionaires, and the blowback over his and Mika’s trek to Mar-a-Lago.

Read
Now

FASHION

Much of the fashion-related inauguration coverage has been about who played ball with the Trumps and Vances, and who
refrained. Not surprisingly, most have engaged. Lauren examines the most visible label during inauguration weekend: Oscar de la Renta, worn by Usha Vance on multiple occasions as well as Ivanka Trump. Meanwhile, Sarah digs into Melania Trump’s decision to wear an Eric Javits boater, and how it highlighted an often-overlooked corner of fashion retail that’s managed to survive despite dramatic industry changes: the seasonal and trend-driven hat business. Lauren also chronicles the departure of
lingerie designer Adam Selman from Savage x Fenty. Selman, who ran his own line for years, is always in the conversation for jobs in Europe, where his partner, Daniel Roseberry, designs Schiaparelli. Could he be headed to Paris?

Read
Now

SPORTS

NBC Sports’s college football insider Nicole Auerbach reunites with John for an all-encompassing deep dive into the
new-and-improved 12-team CFP. Nicole discusses the biggest successes, like increased fan engagement throughout the regular season; shortcomings, like the problematic seeding issue; potential tweaks, like further expanding the field to 14 teams; and much, much more.

Listen Now

A MESSAGE FROM META

Open source AI is available to all, not just the few.

In this job market, how are you standing out in a sea of resumes? 

The solution: "With Llama, Meta’s free open source AI model, we built an AI tool that helps candidates write resumes and more—like a personal career coach," says CEO Mitchell.

Learn more about how others are building with open source AI.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to conduct the third annual box office draft on The Town. Matt and
Lucas each draft seven blockbuster movies set to be released in 2025, with the goal of making the most money possible against the production budget. Plus, an added twist that allows each person to saddle the other’s team with a movie they believe will bomb.

Listen
Now

MEDIA

Eriq Gardner joins Peter to break down how CNN ended up paying $5 million to Navy veteran Zachary Young in a
stunning, potentially precedent-setting defamation case. Then they dissect Donald Trump’s head-spinning lawsuit accusing 60 Minutes and CBS News of election interference—and why, despite the specious nature of the case, Paramount might settle.

Listen Now

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