After Effects v25.0.1.2 Freezing and crashing

Steps to reproduce:
    1. I opened a project I had been working on yesterday and today imported new footage.
Result: After the footage imported, I began seeing the spinning beach ball any time I clicked on any menu. This freezing up lasts about a minute or two... Very disruptive. I had to force quit multiple times. Cleared my prefrences and cache... Still having the same issue.
Expected: I expect to be able to click on a menu without it freezing up. 
 
System info
    Application: After Effects v25.0.1.2
    OS: macOS v14.7.1, RAM: 64.00 GB GB, CPUs (logical): 10