Hunter or Hunted, D.C. Status Anxiety, ESPN’s Big Bet

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

Today, we lead with Lauren Sherman’s close look at the $8.5 billion deal to create a new “aspirational” luxury fashion juggernaut. Can it become the American LVMH?

Plus, below the fold: Peter Hamby considers the Beltway media frustration surrounding Biden’s ostensible press snubbing. On The Powers That Be, Tara Palmeri and Peter work through the latest twists in Hunter Biden’s legal saga, while Peter diagnoses the G.O.P.’s freshest fears and anxieties. And on The Town, Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw place bets on whether ESPN’s foray into gambling was a masterstroke or a miscalculation.

LAUREN SHERMAN

An $8.5 billion union of near-luxury brands—Versace, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, etcetera—promises to be good for shareholders. But can it produce great fashion?

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PETER HAMBY

For Biden to win again, he must reach people who aren’t just news junkies, and his advisers are unapologetic about the importance of going around the Washington press to do it, their egos be damned.

PETER HAMBY & TARA PALMERI

Tara Palmeri joins Peter to work through the latest twist in the Hunter Biden legal saga and what it forebodes for 2024. Then Peter, on the ground in the corndog capital of the human imagination, reports on the stirrings on the G.O.P.’s latest fears and anxieties.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss ESPN's foray into gambling after it struck a deal with PENN Entertainment to create ESPN Bet, why Bob Iger and Disney decided to make this move now.