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Happy Friday and welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s
freshest reporting.

First up today, Matt Belloni offers his bracing diagnosis of the Oscars’ diminishing relevance, arguing that the overt internationalization of the voting body has alienated viewers by niche-ifying the nominations beyond the mainstream—just as the lucrative telecast needs a shot of populism more than ever.

Plus, below the fold: Tara Palmeri convenes with longtime Jill Biden press secretary Michael LaRosa for a remarkably candid conversation about the Joe Biden “cover-up.” John Ourand gets on the horn with Fox Sports boss Eric Shanks to discuss his attempt to restore IndyCar to its former glory. And for Inner Circle members, Lauren Sherman
breaks down why Gucci’s creative designer succession sweepstakes are so consequential to the future of the brand.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt is joined by WME partner Robert Newman on The Town to chew over the Oscars’ relevance problem. On Fashion People, Lauren and comms guru Lucien Pagès debate how Americans and Europeans approach fashion and style. On Impolitic, John Heilemann connects
with Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, to dissect Trump’s machinations to end the war in Ukraine. And on The Powers That Be, Dylan Byers and Peter Hamby examine the turmoil brewing at 30 Rock after Rebecca Kutler’s sweeping programming overhaul.

HOLLYWOOD

The Oscars have struggled to maintain their significance in the zeitgeist: The box office and cultural relevance of
the nominated films have been in decline for some time, as has the TV audience. We can point to many reasons: the end of monoculture; the Academy’s stubborn unwillingness to evolve its broadcast; and perhaps most of all, as Matt argues, the divergence in taste between mainstream American audiences and the people who make movies—and especially movies outside the U.S. Does the Academy’s problem lie in the makeup of the increasingly internationalized voter base?

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WASHINGTON

Whatever prevented the Washington media from telling the full story of Joe Biden’s declining health, that spell has
been broken. Indeed, the same people who turned a blind eye to the president’s mental state are now buzzing about Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s forthcoming book, Original Sin, which promises an “unflinching and explosive” accounting of Biden’s reelection campaign. There’s been a reckoning among past members of Biden’s inner circle, too. In this candid conversation with Michael LaRosa, the former Biden official and longtime Jill Biden spokesperson offers his unvarnished perspective on
the Biden “cover-up.” While LaRosa pushed back on that specific characterization, he acknowledged efforts to hide Biden from the media—describing the president’s press team as essentially “gaslighting” the American public.

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SPORTS

Back in the 1980s, IndyCar had an outsize footprint in the American sports landscape. In the intervening years, of
course, the circuit’s cachet has waned. Last summer, Fox Sports picked up IndyCar rights on the cheap—around $25 million per year—with the hope that its fortunes could be reversed. Not only had F1 introduced a whole new generation of Americans into the once-sleepy backwater of motorsports, but Fox also owned a NASCAR rights package. This Sunday, Fox will test that strategy by carrying IndyCar’s Firestone Grand Prix at noon, and NASCAR’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin a couple of hours
later. John sat down with Fox Sports C.E.O. Eric Shanks to get a sense of what to expect. Can he leverage the synergies between the two leagues to create a highly amortizable ratings opportunity?

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FASHION

Looking back on the past three or four decades in fashion, the megabrand model relies less on the designer’s runway
proposition and more on the annual recurring revenue that comes from its core offerings. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Kering deputy C.E.O. Francesca Bellettini made clear on a recent earnings call that she is staying the course at Gucci, where the focus is on improving quality, refining designs, and diversifying leather goods. That’s why the next creative director of Gucci—who is expected to be appointed in the coming weeks, maybe even days—will be so critical for the future of the brand
and for Kering. Even if the messaging in the coming weeks is all about the person, it’s the underlying strategy that will determine Gucci’s fate.

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HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by WME partner Robert Newman to talk about how much an Oscar win still matters. Robert represents
several accomplished auteur filmmakers, and can speak to the impact a win could have on an up-and-coming director, how it influences their next project, and whether that cache has dwindled. He then shares a few opinions on how to improve the ceremony, as Matt finishes the show with a ratings prediction for the 97th Academy Awards.

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FASHION

Lauren welcomes Paris-based communications guru Lucien Pagès to the pod. Lucien shares stories of precious time spent
interning in Yves Saint Laurent’s studio in the 1990s, opening his agency (with Adam Kimmel as his first client!) in the 2000s, going global in the 2010s, and selling to supergroup The Independents last year. They also chat about how Americans and Europeans approach fashion and style. Plus, Lauren checks in from Milan Fashion Week, with reports from Prada and more.

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WASHINGTON

John is joined by Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford and
former U.S. ambassador to Russia, to discuss Donald Trump’s efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. McFaul explains why the rare earth minerals deal between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky amounts to an act of pure extortion by America against an ostensible ally; how Vladimir Putin views the U.S. siding with Russia at the U.N., and the reopening of diplomatic channels between Washington and Moscow; the depth of Trump’s admiration for Putin and disdain for Zelensky; and the clear-eyed (if
mortified) European reaction to all of the above. 

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MEDIA

Dylan Byers joins Peter to discuss the turmoil brewing at 30 Rock, where MSNBC’s new president, Rebecca Kutler,
implemented a sweeping programming overhaul—and network star Rachel Maddow openly criticized her bosses live on air, in prime time. But as Dylan explains, some of these changes may be necessary as the network navigates its future beyond Maddow and Morning Joe.

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