The Bella Jar, CNN’s Debate Coup, Johnson’s Courthouse Gambit

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

First up today, Dylan Byers offers a potpourri of media world dish: CNN and ABC’s Trump-Biden debate coup, the angst pervading NBC News, and the backstory to Pam Drucker Mann’s Condé departure.

Plus, below the fold: Tina Nguyen explains why the House speaker made a pilgrimage to the Trump trial. Rachel Strugatz candidly appraises Bella Hadid’s would-be fragrance empire. William D. Cohan relays the latest intel from inside the Paramount special committee. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Camilo Becdach examine Hollywood’s billion-dollar missed opportunity. And on The Powers That Be, Dylan and Peter Hamby foreshadow the Trump-Biden showdown.

DYLAN BYERS

News and notes on the latest storylines coursing through the industry: CNN’s debate coup, NBC’s internal frustrations, and a Condé Nast departure.

TINA NGUYEN

The perpetually embattled House speaker has been hitting the road to flatter Trump, secure the support of pro-Israel groups, and flex his fundraising agility as another potential leadership battle looms.

RACHEL STRUGATZ

News and notes on the surprising or unsurprising promise of Bella Hadid’s new line, Ôrəbella.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

More news and notes from inside the Paramount quiet period. “We’re running out of things to delay this on,” shared one participant in the process.