Safari 27 Stopped working. It's "stuck"

Update macOS. To learn how to do that please read Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support.

If you still experience problems with its updated version of Safari please review If Safari doesn't work as expected on Mac - Apple Support. Don't omit any steps, one of which is to update macOS, so do that first.

I understand Safari opens now and it is no longer "stuck"... correct?

And the same exact problems occur even in a Private Window... correct?

Add clearing Safari's History to the list of suggestions in If Safari doesn't work as expected on Mac - Apple Support. That document inexplicably omits it from that list, but it often helps.

Clearing Safari's caches, cookies and other data does not clear its history:

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac - Apple Support

Clear history in your normal browsing window — not in Private Browsing. Of course you can do both.

Not sure what the grey icons are all about, but whatever it is doesn't seem normal to me either.

If absolutely nothing helps the next troubleshooting step is to download and run EtreCheck, then post its report in a reply to this Discussion. Instructions are here: How to run the Etrecheck Diagnostic Tool - Apple Community. The instructions are brief but accurate. Don't overthink it.

John- Thanks for your reply. I updated Safari from Golden Gate 27 to GG 27.2. Then, I followed ALL of the steps from your link. Same result. When Safari opens, all of the normally colorful favorites icons are just grey. Not normal.

Also, Firefox works fine and other macs on my local network are not affected. Not using VPN. If you have any other ideas, I would appreciate hearing them.