Inside Phil Mickelson’s Backdoor Dealings With the Saudis’ LIV Golf Superleague: “They’re Scary Motherf--kers”

The Toll of War • Musk’s Misinfo • The Machinations of MBS [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Inside Phil Mickelson’s Backdoor Dealings With the Saudis’ LIV Golf Superleague: “They’re Scary Motherf--kers” Good morning from the Hive newsroom. Why did Phil Mickelson jump ship for LIV? It was dangling an offer he couldn’t refuse, according to Alan Shipnuck’s forthcoming book, LIV and Let Die, which tells the [inside story]( of how the PGA Tour’s star golfer recruited his top competitors to follow him to a Saudi-backed superleague. “I know 20 guys who want to do this,” Mickelson told Shipnuck, “and if the Tour doesn’t do the right thing, there is a high likelihood it’s going to happen.” Staying on Saudi Arabia, Bradley Hope [explains]( how the Israel-Hamas war could derail normalization talks with Israel—which might be fine by Mohammed bin Salman, Hope argues, since the crown prince has already rehabbed his image. Plus, the editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post and a Gazan journalist join Brian Stelter on the [latest episode]( of Inside the Hive to discuss the physical and psychological toll of covering the conflict. Thanks for reading. [Inside Phil Mickelson’s Backdoor Dealings With the Saudis’ LIV Golf Superleague: “They’re Scary Motherf--kers”]( By [Alan Shipnuck]( [It was inevitable that the golf legend would be wooed away from the PGA Tour, writes Alan Shipnuck in an excerpt from his new book, LIV and Let Die. The question was who’d come along with him. “Everyone,” as one player puts it, “had a number.”]( [Read more button](   [The Saudi-Israeli Deal Is Likely Off. MBS May Have Gotten What He Wants Anyway]( By [Bradley Hope]( [Even if Hamas’s attacks on Israel were designed to derail a deal between Riyadh and Jerusalem, that may be just fine with MBS. Five years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the crown prince has rehabbed his image in many world capitals just by talking.]( [Read more button](   [Journalists in Israel and Gaza Discuss a Reporter’s Role in War]( By [Brian Stelter]( [“This entire country is one big war zone,” says a journalist in Jerusalem, as another, based in Gaza City, speaks of feeling like “a target at any moment.”]( [Read more button](   [Elon Musk Isn’t Just Enabling Misinformation About the Israel-Hamas War—He’s Fueling It Himself]( By [Caleb Ecarma]( [The owner of X boosted a doctored video of a CNN war correspondent that falsely suggests she was an actor who didn’t need to take cover from a missile salvo.]( [Read more button](   [The White House, Liz Cheney, Ron DeSantis, and More Slam Trump for Calling Hezbollah “Very Smart”]( By [Bess Levin]( [The White House called the remarks “dangerous and unhinged.” Liz Cheney asked, “Are Republicans really going to nominate this dangerous man to be President of the United States?”]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast