WarnerMount vs. The Gathering Storm Suspicions are building inside Paramount and beyond that Netflix is astroturfing Hollywood’s “Block the Merger” campaign and engaging with regulators about the deal. Netflix denies it all—but the grow...

I hear that Netflix has been meddling in the regulatory review of Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery. “Frankly, I am surprised at how aggressive they’ve been with me,” a senior government official tells me. puck.news/is-netflix-m...

How Trump’s Anti-NFL Crusade Could Backfire Stripping the league of its antitrust protection, which has already been winnowed down by courts, may lead to more football games on paid streaming, and a challenging landscape for conservative broadc...

Rethinking the NFL antitrust freakout: the streamers are in it, the real battlefield isn’t the FCC, and Trump’s enforcers will likely talk tough before blinking. My latest. puck.news/how-trumps-a...

MrBeast’s $100M Day in Court The yearslong legal feud between YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson and restaurateur Robert Earl is headed back to court this week, with Donaldson arguing that he’s defending his brand and personal integrity—an...

It ain’t reality, but Tavis Smiley and PBS went to trial a few years ago over a morality clause: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Also, these days, we’re just as likely to see talent claiming reputational damage from a partnership gone sour. See the MrBeast case: puck.news/mrbeasts-emp...

NEW: A Florida judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over the paper’s Jeffrey Epstein birthday-letter story, finding that Trump did not plausibly allege actual malice. He may try again.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game A deep dive on baseball walk-out songs

A (non-Puck) newsletter recommendation. Chris Dalla Riva’s analytical take on music is always fascinating. Here he breaks down MLB walk-out songs. open.substack.com/pub/chrisdal...

Guess what

Bobby Kotick’s Call of Duty After Microsoft’s 2023 acquisition of Activision, the game maker’s former C.E.O. came under legal fire for allegedly rushing the deal ahead of negative news about the company’s bro-ey culture. The ens...

You can read more about that case here puck.news/how-a-swedis...

Jeffrey Epstein’s crazy idea to reform education, which I discovered in an ongoing shareholder case over the Microsoft-Activision’s merger.

Their Eyes Were Watching Goodell The NFL’s bid to fix blown calls with centralized, A.I.-assisted officiating—framed as insurance against a referee lockout—risks morphing into a far messier test case at the intersection of gambling, ...

I can see A.I.-assisted NFL officiating turning into a big brouhaha right in the midst of election season. I spell out the scenario here… puck.news/the-nfls-ai-...

Had no idea it was this many

Someone has a case of Mueller Derangement Syndrome

The Jeff Shell Legal Saga Takes a Startling Turn Strip away the theatrics, and R.J. Cipriani’s headline-making battle against Paramount president Jeff Shell may be the silliest Hollywood lawsuit filed this year. But Shell might have a bigger problem...

Breaking down the silliest Hollywood lawsuit of the year—and why anyone took it seriously puck.news/jeff-shell-v...

Murdoch’s Mexico War & An Ellison Merger Lesson News and notes on Fox’s bizarre trademark war down south, a Ninth Circuit appeal that could revive the NFL’s $4.7 billion Sunday Ticket punishment, and why Disney may soon be negotiating streaming bun...

Let me tell you about Murdochs’ war in Mexico puck.news/how-fox-lost...

What I wrote on the eve of trial puck.news/live-nation-...

The CAA Blacklist Comes to Light An Aaron Sorkin protégé’s claim that CAA stole his pilot idea has evolved into a trial over whether the agency steered his career into the Hollywood equivalent of witness protection.

Hollywood’s most powerful talent agency is going to trial next week for allegedly not doing right by a client. Aaron Sorkin and other industry figures will testify. puck.news/did-caa-kill...

Dear Ted,
Take 10% of the $2.8B breakup fee—roughly $280 million—and go hire the best investigative journalists in the world. Build a next-gen 60 Minutes. A better CNN.
Think of the revenge possibilities.

A Spy in Silicon Valley Jim Baugh, the former C.I.A. operative convicted of orchestrating a bizarre scheme to silence two eBay critics, blames the company for its toxic culture—and says he was still working as a spy. Now, th...

Looks like on the eve of trial, there's a settlement in the case concerning the corporation, eBay, which hired a former CIA operative, to spy and harass a pair of nosy journalists. I wrote about the case here: puck.news/jim-baugh-a-...

You earn your P.R. salary when you get them to call you a “whistleblower”

Can Trump Claim His Live Nation Scalp? Next week’s looming government trial against Live Nation is driving settlement chatter to new heights, while raising questions about just how badly the White House wants an antitrust trophy.

A huge trial to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster is less than a week away. Reading tea leaves… puck.news/live-nation-...

Judge who allowed FBI to search Washington Post reporter’s home rips into Justice Department | CNN Politics A federal judge ripped into the Justice Department on Friday for failing to inform him of the applicability of a law intended to protect journalists from government searches and seizures when it asked...

Wow www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/p...

I know the Supreme Court doesn't trifle with such considerations, but maybe not give Trump disappointing legal news on a Friday as he considers launching war?

Kevin Spacey’s $80M Legal House of Cards The disgraced actor is soon expected to sit for a brutal cross-examination in the rare Hollywood insurance dispute that has actually made it to trial. A potentially huge payout hinges on whoever’s ver...

A 5-week trial over Kevin Spacey's departure from "House of Cards" begins today in Santa Monica. Strangely ignored by most reporters, it feature the actor testifying, has $80m (or more) at stake, and tests a novel, impactful issue. Read more here: puck.news/kevin-spacey...

Already a tenth of the way through the year.

I don’t think there’s a news publication more in love with A.I. than Axios. Can’t say it’s really improved, though.

Why Won’t Hollywood Speak Up for TikTok? Despite its free speech history, Hollywood isn’t joining the First Amendment challenges to the U.S. government’s TikTok ban. A deep dive into why studio heads, producers, and writers might be making t...

Hollywood studios sat out the TikTok ban fight—and ByteDance ended up divesting its U.S. operations. Now the M.P.A. is up in arms over Seedance. Would their copyright claims carry more weight if ByteDance still had skin in the U.S. game? puck.news/why-wont-hol...

Will the McConaughey Act Save Hollywood I.P.? Matthew McConaughey trademarked his famous lines to fight deepfakes. Legal experts say it might not stop A.I. impersonation.

And check out my new Matthew McConaughey story puck.news/can-celebrit...

A taste of tonight’s newsletter

Here’s why the culture wars at yesterday’s Netflix-WBD Senate hearing really matter…

The Bad Bunny Lawsuit That Could Destroy Reggaeton As Bad Bunny prepares for the Super Bowl, a copyright suit including Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, and Pitbull claims that the entire Latin urban music phenomenon was built on top of stolen beats. A rulin...

The case that could destroy Bad Bunny and influence A.I. puck.news/the-bad-bunn...

I’m sure I’m not alone wondering this.