How Alex Cooper Built an Empire: Betrayals & Backstabs

She is profiting off of women's like heartaches and failures and you know all these awful things that happen to women. She's profiting off of it. That's not girl power. A young woman sits alone and she's about to make a decision that will change everything. On that screen is a contract across town. her partner, her co-host, and her roommate, the woman she'd built a powerful business with, all from nothing, likely believes they're still a united friend, still together and still fighting for the same dream. But she's very wrong. Alex Cooper hovers her finger over the trackpad. The contract on her screen offers her 75% ownership of the intellectual property behind Call Her Daddy. What's up, It's Alex and it's Sophia. Back at it again for another episode of Call Her Daddy. >> If she walks forward alone, >> what is up Daddy gang? It is your single father, Alex Cooper. >> She chooses the brand over the bond. >> We were having business negotiations. And during that negotiation, she decided, you know what? Instead of trying to figure this out, I'm just going to try to take this for myself and run with it. And that's what she did. And that's what ended up happening. And with that, the best friend character is retired. >> Alex, they're getting pissed. >> I'm excited about the whole thing, but I'm I'm terrified at the same time. >> And in her place, the media executive takes form. In the digital landscape, loyalty is a luxury, but control is everything. And when you have control of the empire, you have control of the narrative. >> And I goting custody of a ton of children. [music] I'm just thankful I didn't birth all of you out of my mother. >> Would you stab someone in the back to get ahead to make millions? Unfortunately, it seems like this is the way of the world, the way of our forefathers, and it's the founding story of Call Her Daddy, one of the top podcasts on all platforms led by Alex Cooper. Alex Cooper is one of the most successful modern women in the media space, defining podcasts through the years and having heartto-hearts with internet and mainstream celebrities alike. >> I'm happy to be here. I'm happy you're here. >> But it took her a few years and a few sabotages along the way to get there. >> Alex Earl, hey girl, you're going to need to get specific and just say what you got to say about me. as the IP to her podcast was under ownership by another famous and powerful man. >> Sophia and I were making the company millions of dollars. We [music] had signed a three-year contract with Bartol Sports and they owned our IP. >> Did Alex Cooper simply do what she needed to get ahead? Or did she become the very evil her podcast claimed it was never going to be? >> We feel like these things become gendered. No one's going to give you the answers, especially as a young woman. No one wants to give you the answers cuz no one really wants you to succeed. >> We all want control over the things we create. But sometimes control can be an elucory concept. The closer you get to obtaining it, the further it slips away. And the more and more things spiral out of control. This is the story of Alex Cooper, a woman who wanted to be as well regarded as the white fathers before her, who thrived in business unapologetically. So, she created a podcast called Call Her Daddy. >> Call Her Daddy. >> Stop being little and just listen up. >> Little >> Little [music] boys. Listen up. >> Welcome or welcome back to another Cruel World Happy Mind video. My name is Madison and this is the story of Call Her Daddy. >> The Glock Glock 9000 is every man's kryptonite. >> We're not saying cheat, but we are saying be crazy as because guys love the crazy. a woman who wanted what the men around her had always taken for granted and what she was willing to do to get it. >> In the beginning of the inception of Call Her Daddy, very strategically marketing wise, I was presenting my looks and a Valley girl voice and I knew how to give some amazing tips in the bedroom. I started to feel a little drained of like, how many more times can I [music] sit and talk about just sex? What parts of yourself would you give up to become something more than you ever dreamed possible, something bigger than yourself? Alex Cooper, who now sits at the top of her branding and media empire, knows exactly what you need to sacrifice in today's digital landscape to get what you want. >> I will not be able to make it into work today. I am unwell. >> That's all I wrote. That's it. >> I didn't put a high. I didn't say it was from Sophia. >> Call her daddy. Obviously, everybody's talking about that. The Wii created four episodes and then Gabe Portoy slid [music] into my DM. >> I was like, I know you're lying to me. If you guys believe, we're going to war. >> Time magazine called her arguably the most successful woman [music] in podcasting. Alex was well on her way to becoming one of the most recognizable names in podcasting history. But that's not what happened. Known for interviews with some of the biggest [music] stars of our time, Ed Sharon, welcome to Color Daddy. >> It just started to get really bad cuz it got all about money. >> I never started this for money. Someone's going to be the victim and someone's going to be the villain. [music] And I was the villain. But the whole thing broke down. >> [music] [music] >> Every story has a before. Before hit the fan. Alex Cooper grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. On the surface, she had a classic American childhood. Close-knit, stable. When I look back at my childhood home, I have had so many memories there. I grew up with my two siblings there. All the kids would be in the culde-sac playing capture the flag. Okay. Alex Cooper that lives in LA right now. She would be nothing without Philly Alex Cooper. Her father, Brian, worked as a TV producer for the Philadelphia Flyers and her mother, Lorie, was a psychologist. They had three kids, a house. What many see on screen now on the Call Her Daddy episodes is a confident woman who evokes feelings of the classic popular girl, blonde, tan, with a vocal fry, and quips about sex and confidence and the right beauty trends for the times, which always leaves one feeling like they're out of the times if they're not keeping up with Alex Cooper. >> If you're single and you want a rich dude, find a way to get your ass into the country clubs. It's literally a boy's club. There's hot dudes, rich dudes walking around everywhere. >> But this was not Alex's experience growing up. The bullying started young. Red hair, goofy. At least that's what the young boys at her school said about her in very unkind ways. Alex kept the bullying a secret. Too embarrassed to tell her family and too ashamed to ask for help. Luckily, Alex found comfort at home. The early exposure to emotional isolation taught her the value of a safe space. My family was always my safe space," she said about this time in her life. Her father, Brian, worked as a TV producer for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. He had his own set of cameras that Alex could use to explore film making. Alex would spend hours in the basement with friends, creating skits, and recreating scenes from their favorite movies. The youngest of three kids, Alex [music] loved documenting every aspect of her life. Before turning 10, she was already using a green screen and teaching herself how to edit videos in Premiere. Alex would sometimes come along with her dad to work, sitting quietly in the back of the control room with her own headset. >> I got really lucky with, I guess, with my parents is that I leaned into both of the things that they did. I took a piece from both of them. I loved having control over the timing and the pacing of the comedy, she said. Creating these worlds that I had control over was the place where I felt 100% myself. She felt comfort creating and editing her own little worlds because it made her feel like she had control. Alex's mother, Lorie, is a psychologist and is credited as the one who nurtured Alex's emotional intelligence with Alex saying about her childhood, "I had a very liberal and feminist mother." She said that neither of her parents were squeamish about sexuality. with my history of having a mother that is a psychologist and growing up in a home where EQ and mental health was [music] like a non-starter. It was a prerequisite to be in my family. It's like you need to work on yourself. Though Alex was deeply loved at home with a family who seemed supportive, she slowly grew to hate herself as she continued to experience bullying at school but hid it from her family. keeping the bullying a secret out of embarrassment. Alex was feeling emotionally vulnerable, torn apart, but was able to find a home on the soccer field. I had a hard time with like wanting to make my parents really proud. I think they saw a lot in me and I was very like doing a lot of things. I was really good at soccer. I was like good at making movies and films and all the things, but I like really struggled in school. And so I never wanted to tell my parents that because I felt like I think I was like embarrassed. What I do know is I was like embarrassed to explain to my parents that I was like getting bullied at school or having a hard time cuz when I got home I then was my actual real self. >> Her parents supported her talent. Alex said they recognized, oh my gosh, one of our kids is an athlete that could get a full scholarship. >> You were a D1 soccer player. >> Yes. >> Beu. >> Okay. Gotcha. So you played sports in Boston. How were your parents as uh sports parents? >> Um aggressive. Okay. >> My parents are very competitive people. My dad was also a D1 um hockey player. So like we are everything is just intense in my family. Like we got to win and we got to be the best. >> Alex's family seemed stable from the outside. Alex described her family as middle class, but she always had an awareness of money growing up. That awareness deepened and her stability cracked in 2004 when her father lost his job during the NHL labor lockout. >> Yeah, my dad worked for the >> He was a Philadelphia Flyers producer >> and I so I grew up around these athletes and that was my dad's job. So, athletics just in my household was the norm. >> It was the first time a major North American professional sports league lost an entire season to a labor dispute. Of course, her mother had her therapy practice that kept them afloat, but barely. It wasn't enough to sustain a fivep person household, Alex claimed. By high school, Alex transformed. She was no longer the bullied kid with red hair and was now the soccer star. Alex was then recruited by several division 1 colleges for soccer and ended up selecting Boston University who offered her a full scholarship. Her mother had grown up in the greater Boston area and they both liked that the head coach was a woman. The coach's name was Nancy Feldman. Soccer was the love of my life and I give so much credit to my parents. I traveled all around the world. Um, I represented the United States in Russia. We went to Sohi. I had dealt with male coaches my whole life and a huge draw was that the coach was a woman. >> Oh wow. During Alex's sophomore year, the coach Nancy Feldman was singling her out, making inappropriate remarks about her body, asking invasive questions about her life, trying to get her alone after practice, sometimes even touching her thigh unnecessarily. I experienced [music] something extremely painful. I was determined to make a name for myself on that field. So when my coach started to pay extra attention to me, I figured it was probably because I was playing well. Cooper says everything changed her sophomore year. I started to notice her really starting to fixate on me way more than any other teammate of mine. It was all based in her wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body, [music] and her always wanting to be alone with me. Initially, Alex was focused on proving herself on the team and just assumed like the extra attention from the coach was a sign that she was a standout player, so she brushed it off. Unfortunately, this is the architecture of grooming. It starts by building trust. It isolates slowly. And because the early behavior seems so minor, so easy to just explain away, the victim continues to rationalize. Who would believe me? What exactly would I even say? It was a psychotic game of you want to play? Tell me about your sex life. I have to drive you to your night class, get in the car with me. My freshman year of high school, I was touring colleges. 13 years old. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to college. And >> I will never forget I toured Boston University and my mom is from Boston. Boston was it for me because they had a great film program >> and the soccer I was very excited about. >> I would sit as far away from her as possible. But Alex couldn't leave. She was on a full scholarship. Her entire future, her family's investment in her talent depended on staying on that team. Yeah, I think that um you know, we started the game, we came out really strong, so I just kind of tried to bring the energy going forward and just try to get some shots on goal and make some plays in the box. So, Alex Cooper hesitated to push back. She was going to Boston University on a full scholarship for soccer. She needed to play. If I didn't follow this woman's rules, I was gone. Every time I tried to resist her, she would say, "There could be consequences." >> It's very confusing. Yeah, >> when it slow, this woman says, I really genuinely thought that that was her kind of deeming me like, I'm going to invest in you. She was just starting to really fixate on me. And then sophomore year, everything changed. The situation heightened at the end of her junior year when Nancy Feldman removed Alex's roommate from the team to further isolate her. Again, this is part of the stages of grooming. Cooper and her parents met with Boston University's athletic director, who they allege refused to review their evidence, which is the most wild and disappointing aspect of this whole situation. That being said, the athletic director allowed Alex to quit the soccer team while keeping her scholarship. This is full sexual harassment, but [music] if I'm going to be real with you, they will drag this on for years. And this will be your life. Is you're the girl that's suing the coach. And from freshman year to this day, [music] I've chronologically written every single thing down that my daughter has called me about and cried about that this woman has said and done to her. They kind of just like side eye look at each other. [music] and they say, [music] "What do you want? I want to play my senior year. I want to finish out what I worked my entire life for, but I can't play for this woman." No investigation. Within 5 minutes, they had entirely dismissed everything I had been through. >> And they say, "Well, we are not getting rid of rid of Nancy Feldman. She is um a decorated coach here. She had been the only coach who had come through that organization at the time for women's soccer. She had plaques all over the university. She was celebrated. She was decorated. You can keep playing or you don't need to play and you can keep your scholarship. >> Oh my god. >> Alex ultimately graduated from Boston University in 2017 and earned a degree from the College of Communication where she studied film and television. She'd also learned that institutions protect themselves and that if you want justice, you usually have to get it yourself. [music] After university, Alex moved to New York City and worked in the sales department at Gotham Magazine. She also started making the nightlife circuit and dating several athletes, including former Mets pitcher Noah Synergard. "I was living this very glamorous lifestyle because he was rich," she says. "And I was a nobody." It's time for Noah to get some much needed RNR. [music] He headed to MSG to catch the Rangers game with his bay, Alexandra Cooper, a former Boston University soccer player. The two athletes enjoy [music] watching sporting events together and actually made their relationship official at a Knicks [music] game in April when they couldn't keep their hands off each other. >> No matter what, there's a big fella. I mean, come on, you got to keep it spicy. [music] Speaking of spicy, you might want to check out Alexandra's super steamy Instagram account. [music] She has some really hot pics and over 80,000 followers. Dating athletes like Noah Synergard provided a taste of wealth. When that relationship ended, she found herself in a familiar position, rebuilding from nothing with nothing. Alex went on Facebook to find roommates and crossed paths with Sophia Franklin. Welcome to our amazing, humble abode. Let us do it the proper way. [music] >> Welcome to our crib. >> It's really hot in here. Let's turn on the air. [groaning] >> [screaming] >> Do you hear that hum? A little hard to hear over the noise, but hopefully we will have been through. It's the craziest, most random I take an Uber pool because I was broke as and I wanted out of my lease that I was in. She says, "Oh, I know a girl looking for a roommate." That girl happened to be Alex Cooper and we signed a lease that day. After being let go from Gotham magazine, Alex signed up for seeing arrangements, a service that allowed men to pay her for dates. The goal was, I never wanted to do anything with these men. I [music] was just going to get drinks and dinner and by the end of the night have enough money for rent, she said. Alex also always brought a friend to sit in the back of the bar. We did crazy fun shizz like that. Though in retrospect, I want everyone to be careful. I don't know if you should be on that site, but the real idea, the one that would change everything was forming in her apartment. >> All I would do is listen to podcasts all day long. Then we start the podcast with this company. >> Um, that was like it was a podcast network. It was run by just like a bunch of trust fund kids. >> Stop. Don't kill the snake. two women having unfiltered, brutally honest conversations about sex and dating in the modern world. >> We were drinking. We were at this bar bantering. By the end of the night, we had like a group of like 20, 30 people just like watching us talk and like listening to each other. And she was like, "Let's start a YouTube." >> Yeah. The first the way it kind of started was we went down to South by Southwest Film Festival and we were with all these guys and Sophia and I just started talking like we do on the podcast like really open and talking about guys and girls and dating and sex and um there slowly just all these guys started to kind of like come around us and after like 40 minutes no guy touched their phone and they were all just listening to us and then afterwards a couple guys were like do you guys have a show like uh no like she works a finance job I work for a magazine and then they were like you guys need a show I would watch this every day Before the idea could become a real show, they needed a name. We knew we needed a catchy name to get people's attention. Alex Cooper said, "I was in our apartment one day and I threw on a hoodie that has a huge bold daddy on it. I bought it in college because I was like, this is hilarious." She says men in college would say to her, "Why do you have daddy on your shirt?" Because I am. >> The name call her daddy refers to how they're turning the tables on men and taking charge. Even though that's still not what I said though. >> It's really not at all. >> We're not turning the tables on men. We're just saying girls can be daddies, too. GUYS CAN STAY DADDIES. [laughter] >> A name that said women could be daddies, too. A name that said the rules of the game were about to change. And this was fitting at the time because this was the time that dating culture was starting to really change in a way that was hard to describe. And it's hard to find resources that really talk in an honest way about women who want to have sex and date. Alex and Sophia were able to fill that space and be a safe space for women, which is undoubtedly a positive aspect of the show and I often think goes unagnowledged when discussing the earlier years of Call Her Daddy. All these people, more women are like, "Oh my god, thank God these girls are teaching us and talking about like how to give a good blowjob." So, making it more normalized. >> Alex Cooper claimed she only knew Sophia Franklin for a few months before asking her to make the podcast and that often listeners assumed they were better friends at the time than they actually were because really almost right off the bat their chemistry was effortless. After only doing four self-produced episodes, Call Her Daddy was picked up by Barto Stool Sports. Yeah, Bar Stool Sports. >> All right. >> A company not exactly known at the time for its feminist ideals. >> I saw Sizzle reel and I'm like, "Who made this for you?" She's like, "I did. I learned how to edit." I'm like, "Done. Signed up. You're Let's do it." >> What's up, guys? It's Alex and Sophia from Call Her Daddy. We are in the bar stole offices right now. You heard that right. We are employed, baby. >> Do you call him daddy? Do I call her daddy? >> Call her daddy. >> It is Call her Her Daddy episode 1. Um, first of all, I just want to go ahead and say you probably have no idea who we are, and that is okay. [laughter] two women in their 20s talking explicitly about sex on a platform built by and for men. Fans immediately loved it and the daddy gang was born. Flags in college dorm rooms saying things like degrade me and sweatshirts and Tinder bios featuring the hashtag daddy gang. >> She paid her 70 grand, three-year contract. She brought her partner crime Sophia Franklin with her. So, I each got 70 grand in three years [music] and the thing just it went nuclear in in a month. >> You guys have Valentine? >> No. >> Oh, >> oh, we got Let's fly. Let's fly. We have Valentine's. We're fine. >> I mean, I have like five. >> Sophia and I were talking on the our podcast the other day and we were saying [music] I don't have a Valentine because we're keeping too many people as side hosts and not anointing anyone in Maine. >> Yes. >> Call Her Daddy became very quickly a cultural phenomenon. Sex. X X sex. We are all having sex. Put it in my butt. >> The show gave women a language for navigating a world that had always used that language against them to almost treat intimacy like a constant power struggle. >> The Glock Glock 9000 is every man's kryptonite. >> We're not saying treat, but we are saying be crazy as someone emotionally breaks you down when you're at a vulnerable moment and you build your armor and intimacy becomes a neverending power struggle. And that is kind of a personal issue for many people. Even if a large population, a large population of men treat intimacy like a power struggle doesn't necessarily mean that women should rise up and beat men at their own game. An eye for an eye and the whole world is blind. That is the main criticism of Call Her Daddy. Well, actually, there were also a lot of sexists who just hated the fact that two young attractive women had microphones and a podcast and were sharing their thoughts. But maybe we can just ignore them in this video. I mean, to be as real as possible, the way that the show Call Her Daddy garnered attention was through its shock value. If Alex Cooper and Sophia Franklin discussed gender relations in a very analytical historical analysis sort of way, I don't think anyone would have tuned in to their podcast. The value came from the shock value of the show and how they spoke. >> Cuz when you do doggy, how far into her does that little pen go with a like that? Nobody talks about this, but Black Chyna. >> Black China. >> Kim Kardashian. Yep. >> Sophia and Alex often casually threw around words like Even titling episodes like you're just a hole and welcome to camp. Their supporters said they're reclaiming those words, using them as terms of endearment. But critics saw the language as reinforcing the same male gays culture. If the girls want to initiate something, like you want to hang out with him on Valentine's Day, but you don't want to come off like, "Oh my god, I'm being clingy." Offer him sex. >> They you. That's all they wanted. and now they're not calling you. You're not getting ghosted. >> In my opinion at least, you can't reclaim your power using the same tactics or the same systems that may have oppressed you in the first place. Call her Her Daddy episodes like Mil Hunter pushed this even further, presenting a guest who openly described using women. >> These are good fake tits. Well-made fake titties. >> So, do you start feeling them? >> Of course. Of course. A National Geographic growth. >> Like you're checking for you're checking for breast cancer type of breast cancer awareness month. >> While the Call Her Daddy podcast was undeniably entertaining, the host would sometimes give questionable dating advice, like how to cheat on your partner without them knowing. >> So, we just gave you all the ways to catch a cheater or to cheat. At the same time, Alex and Sophia openly owned their sexuality and their ability to profit from the brand they were building. Alex Cooper spoke about how she loves making people uncomfortable and that the role she defines for herself is marketer. I love to make people uncomfortable, though she seems to really mean men to women. She projects the engaging confidence and perfect eye contact of the most popular girl at your school. I'm always down to shake up, she says. To her point, she greeted the Boston audience with a litany of her sexual exploits at BEu. I got my first STD here. I also know that's kind of my bread and butter, she adds, saying everything, no matter the taboo, is part of her personality, but it's also become more than that. Every day I wake up and go to bed, I'm a marketer through and through. She says that is who I am. She means not a journalist, not a podcast host. I'm a marketer. Her most brilliant product herself. In the beginning of the inception of Call Her Daddy, very strategically marketing wise, I was presenting my looks and a valley girl voice and I knew how to give some amazing tips in the bedroom. [music] The success of this show is wild to me because when we first released our first three episodes with Barcel Sports, it went number two right underneath Joe Rogan. Whoa. That wasn't that wasn't the plan. There was no plan. I didn't even want to be a podcaster. Alex Cooper and Sophia Franklin had become in the public imagination a kind of entity. inseparable, unbreakable, best friends, sisters. Behind the scenes, a time bomb was ticking. >> We just recorded an episode. It was a disaster. We can't get too crazy on camera, so I would personally be freaking the out. >> We can't get too crazy on camera. Okay, you're the craziest person on camera. >> Got to go. Thanks for watching this. We got a chance me. What started as two roommates turning their unfiltered conversations into a hit podcast had within 2 years turned into a major podcast business. Unfortunately, as the podcast grew, so did tensions around money, ownership, control. The main issue between the podcasters centering on intellectual property. >> Sophia and I were making the company millions of dollars. [music] >> To be honest, they were helping pay a lot of the salaries at Bar School. We absolutely deserved more money, but unfortunately, we had signed a three-year contract with Bartool Sports, [music] and they owned our IP. >> Here's what you need to know about the business arrangement underneath their friendship. When Alex and Sophia signed their deal with Bartool Sports, four episodes into their run, they signed away the intellectual property rights, the brand, the name, the concept. Dave Portoi owned it all. >> Each got 70 grand. 70 grand a year was each of their starting salaries. They got so big so fast that that original contract got like outdated instantly almost. And we did pay them a lot more, but they started looking around. Um, and it's like anything. It's like, well, if we're on our own free agents, >> it was almost like Alex and Sophia were just employees, even though they were well-paid ones eventually. Alex allegedly earned 506,000 in their first year, and Sophia 461,000. >> You guys, it's Alex. Welcome to my apartment. tore. I got this from Restoration Hardware and it really hurt my bank account. But they didn't own what they built. Feeling undervalued compared to the industry standard, Alex and Sophia pushed for more in a change of contract. Confident that their following gave them leverage. The renegotiation began with hope. Alex and Sophia drafted a list of demands. a million dollars each, a large share of merchandise revenue, and sole ownership of the Caller Daddy intellectual property. >> And they start looking around being like, "Wait a minute, we're making 70 grand. Our numbers, we should be making millions." They're right. They should have been if they were independent and they weren't through us. But it's kind of like the band model, right? The band label. You signed a thing. Sophia Franklin's boyfriend, Suitman, was an executive at HBO. He started shopping, call her daddy around. But Dave Portoi didn't budge. He didn't even counter. The hosts of Call Her Daddy went silent. No new episodes were posted and the algorithm started to forget them. With the negotiations stalled, Suitman, the name that Sophia's boyfriend was referred to on Call Her Daddy episodes, shopped the Call Her Daddy brand to others in the industry. Dave Portoi made his move. A new offer was given. a 500,000 base salary each, a bigger merge cut, and the nuclear option, a pathway to owning the IP at the end of their contract. It was by almost any measure what they originally asked for. >> We had a very famous meeting on the roof deck of where I lived. It was Alex and Sophia and I said, "Listen, we own the IP." I basically shortened their contract and agreed, I'll give you guys the IP. You guys just work one more year somewhere in there. Should have been two more. Alex calls 2 days later and she says, "Listen, I want to take this deal. Sophia is never going to take this deal." >> Then the rooftop meeting comes. Sophia and I had different opinions on what this meeting meant. Um, after the fact, Sophia made it clear that she was more so going in as just like a courtesy meeting. I was kind of going in praying to God that Dave would be in a really good mood and be like, I actually will give you the IP. The minute we left that rooftop meeting is when the issue started with Sophia and I. According to Alex and according to Dave Portoi, Sophia Franklin kept moving the goalposts. She had a new demand, another condition, another delay. >> I started to become this like yesw woman. We would get on the phone with our lawyer talking about what Sophia wanted and then I would be over here like, um, I'm good with the deal, but like listen to Sophia. Whatever she's going to ask for, let's talk about it. I'm good with the deal. I'm good with the deal. Our lawyer would be like, so Sophia, are you good with this point? And she would bring a list of all the things she wanted to change. And they'd be like, Alex, how do you feel? And I would be like, I'm good with the deal. I'm good with the deal. I'm good with the points. I'm good with the points. >> And all the while the show sat dark. hemorrhaging the momentum they'd spent years building. Bar Stool was losing $100,000 for every episode they failed to produce. Dave Portoy's offer, which sat unanswered, drove Alex and Sophia further apart. Sophia and her boyfriend thought they could potentially get more, maybe even from another company which could host the podcast. Leaving Bartool also threatened the distribution, the marketing support, and infrastructure that had fueled the podcast's rapid growth. They'd have to start over with a new production team that might do everything differently. Even if a better deal was possible, there was a real chance the show could collapse or lose momentum during the transition. The conflict also created a PR nightmare. >> Caller Daddy podcast hosts have turned on each other. Quite dramatic and a lot of headline news recently, but I do want to talk about the Caller Daddy >> We are talking about the drama with Call Her Daddy. >> Call Her Daddy. Obviously, everybody's talking about that. Probably one of the biggest stories of 2020. That was none. >> A bar stool representative told Page Six that in the case of Call Her Daddy, we took a risk on unproven talent and put the full resources of bar stool sports and our milliondoll marketing machine behind them to make them huge. For a moment during this dramatic upheaval of Call Her Daddy, Dave Portoi completely took over appearing on a special episode. >> And Alex didn't want to give over the name in the beginning and bar stool. We said, "Well, we're not going to do this deal if you don't give us ownership of Caller Daddy because it makes no sense." But Alex was making more money than Sophia in the beginning. And to be honest, I thought rightfully so. Continue along and a year is up. Basically, a year they they've done a year's worth of work. The thing is huge. And I can tell now that, you know, they want more money. I don't trust either of you, but I'm telling you, this deal is so good. You There's no You can't not take it. We do millions in merch. It would be theirs. They'd own the IP. They'd own the blog. They owe everything. >> A lot of this narrative sort of presents this idea that Alex and Sophia should just be happy to be paid well when it might not be the best that they could be paid. It almost feels like a logical fallacy of sorts. Just because someone is being paid well doesn't mean they're being paid up to the standards within the industry or to the value that they're bringing in. Dave Portoi claimed that Nelson had become a major factor in the whole dispute. Dave further claimed Nelson provided the lawyers and was openly shopping Call Her Daddy to other companies, acting almost like a manager for the two women. Dave Portoi also connected Nelson to a 2019 episode of HBO's Real Sports, which he described as a hit piece about bar stool. >> I was starting to hear whispers and Alex confirmed it and this is a big part of the story. Sophia's new boyfriend, which I guess call her daddy. People call Suit Peter Nelson. Is that his name? HBO exec. Probably green lit a hit piece on me not too long ago. >> What's fascinating about all of this, the back and forth dispute is what was originally a show about two women taking back their power somehow turned into a dispute over ownership of their podcast, allegedly between two men, Nelson and Portoi. How did things get to this point? If anything, is this just a representation of what call her daddy was? So, with more and more mounting pressure, both women ended up picking sides. Sophia chose her boyfriend Peter Nelson, and Alex ended up siding with Bartool and David Portoy, and Alex Cooper took the situation into her own hands. Alex reached out to Dave and accepted the offer without Sophia. We were having business negotiations. One of us thought one thing, one of us thought the other. And during that negotiation, she decided, you know what? Instead of trying to figure this out, I'm just going to try to take this for myself and run with it. And that's what she did. And that's what ended up happening. The calculation was simple. Stay with a friend or take the 75% ownership and the IP and ensure her future. She chose the latter. to Alex. The friendship had become a manufactured image that was no longer real. They were work partners more than friends. >> We were roommates, best friends, super super close. Yeah. And then we started it. Did Dave know that this was going to happen? Did he think maybe he could get a better deal through driving the two women apart? Or is this just a natural progression in the industry without a strong relationship and working business relationship established? Alex's decision to move forward with the deal independently might have preserved the show's momentum, but came at the cost of her partnership and whatever level of friendship she had with Sophia. From Alex's perspective, her decision made practical sense. She believed accepting the deal was the safest and smartest move. Dave Portoi talked about how Peter Nelson helped Cooper and Franklin secure an offer from the podcast network. >> He was the one who brought in all these lawyers. The lawyer was his friend and he got a deal with Wry. They were going to call the podcast the fathers. When she came back to me, he's like, I can't get Sophia to do this. I want to do it myself. We were already giving them 100% of the IP at the end if they were together. In her mind, she believes I do all the editing. I do all the work. I do most of it. I should be getting 75 no matter what. >> After the deal was finalized, Sophia took to Instagram, alleging that Alex stabbed her in the back. And it wasn't the first time she did it. There's been a lot of crazy being thrown around and some of it is true, some of it is false. Alex and I created Call Her Daddy together. March of 2018, we created it. The two of us, and at that time, we were best friends, roommates, arguably like sisters. Daddy gang, you know, you've been there from the beginning. Did Bar stool sports help blow up Caller Daddy? 100%. >> Sophia explained she was willing to do the podcast. However, she couldn't do it under the circumstances that Alex wanted. She demanded that she controlled the show. This is where the story gets extremely up. I found out that Alex had gone behind my back and done something. And I found out it wasn't the first time. And that's why we're here. I trusted Alex. I feel betrayed, but ultimately she was my best friend and that doesn't change overnight. And I'm willing to do call her daddy. I really am. I just can't do it under the circumstances that she wants. I can't do it while she's demanding that she controls the show. I don't want to be like her employee. This started a dispute over who deserved to control Call her daddy from a production standpoint. >> It's putting me in like a an extremely tough position. >> Alex Cooper, who remained completely silent, posted her own video addressing the situation. The video was crucial for her image. She couldn't just move on and make a solo call her daddy video while leaving Sophia in the dust and never addressing it. For countless episodes of the Caller Daddy podcast, Sophia was her friend and business partner who she bounced back and forth on each topic with. Because of this, so many people believed Alex Cooper had sold out her friend. Much of the video started out combating the narrative that Alex and Sophia were 50/50 partners by explaining the extra work Alex claimed she was doing from the start. Alex Cooper said in the video that during the first year of their bar stool sports contract, she got a pay raise. She claimed was for editing and doing all the social media and doing all the marketing, but she chose not to tell Sophia about her raise because she felt uncomfortable about doing more work on the podcast. Dave and Erica called me back in and they gave me a raise for editing and doing all the social media and doing all the marketing. I chose not to share this raise with Sophia. Sophia made me feel uncomfortable that I did more work. According to Cooper, the imbalance in their workload already created tension and she believed sharing the raise would only make the situation worse. She explained that she and Sophia later began negotiating with Bartool for more money. With outside help, they put together a term sheet that included several demands. But all we knew is we were making significantly less than industry standard. So Peter put together um a document for us and he put together the term sheet that we were essentially going to renegotiate with and send to bar stool. So we sent it to bar stool and in a very roundabout way Dave Portoy essentially told us to go f ourselves in every single hole possible. We were like, >> Alex Cooper then explained the timeline of events which led to call her daddy's breakdown. She said the turning point came during an infamous 2hour phone call with Sophia Franklin. By the end of that conversation, it was obvious that they were on different pages. Why are you so willing to abandon the Call Her Daddy brand to go start something new? And Sophia said, "The IP, it is the most important thing, but it's not as important to me as it is to you, Alex." Alex ended the video by saying she'd lost a friend, but was ready to get the show back on air. Sophia Franklin later told the Rolling Stone she had misgivings about working with Bartool and believed that she and Alex were on the same team. She was shocked when the situation turned into her being at odds with both Alex Cooper and Bartool. Sophia described the fallout as scary, telling Rolling Stone she never knew what Alex Cooper or Dave Portoy would say about her next. She said she no longer considers Cooper a friend, and both women have confirmed they haven't spoken since Sophia left Caller Daddy. >> Do you look at it like you lost a friend or like you lost a business partner or both? >> Um, lost a business partner. >> Mhm. Again, I don't think that a real true friend, anything like that would have ever happened. >> Sophia also said she felt her side of the story was misrepresented. >> What is one thing that you wish people knew about that situation that they still don't know? >> The that you read online or in a magazine or in an article, it is never the true story. And it is terrifying to me to see people out here eat up the they read on the internet as if it is the Bible, right? >> And the Bible isn't real either. >> Yeah. [laughter] So, mic drop. >> Later on, Sophia launched her own podcast. Sophia, in her part, denied deliberately pushing Sophia out of the show. Instead, she argued that the friendship viewers saw was not an entirely accurate reflection of their real life friendship [music] and that their image as best friends was partly something they created and marketed when the podcast first began. >> Any talk with Sophia? [music] >> I never spoke to her again after that. Really? Yeah. I don't think she would ever reach out. I don't know if there's anything [music] to like say. I think it's kind of done. Alex Cooper said audiences became more attached to the friendships they presented publicly than to what actually happened between them behind the scenes. >> It became really difficult to enjoy the process. [music] It was the classic you think you see something online and people genuinely believe we were like sisters, but our relationship was so awful. >> [music] [music] >> With Sophia gone, the press waiting, and the daddy gang holding its breath, Alex Cooper sat in front of the microphone alone. >> The last time that I was in this apartment, I was doing a movein vlog, and now I'm doing a move out vlog. This is kind of like so sad. [music] >> What is up, daddy gang? It is your single father, Alex Cooper, with call her daddy. >> Miley Cyrus appeared on the first solo episode. A huge change from what Caller Daddy once embodied. I'm about to freak the out. Miley Cy I can't even say it out loud. Miley Cyrus is coming on Caller Daddy. I'm sorry. Did you guys hear that? Miley Cyrus is coming on Call Her Daddy. I I'm like I don't know what to say. >> But a statement that Call Her Daddy and Alex Cooper could survive and thrive all on its own and without its original formula. >> Alex Cooper's first big guest was Miley Cyrus. And I think that that really changed the kind of game for her. It showed people that she can interview and, you know, hang with the people who so much of our society looks up to right now. The show didn't just survive, but evolved into something its original audience might not have recognized. Alex Cooper started talking about therapy on air. She discussed mental health, vulnerability, maybe her performance and her true self beginning to merge on screen. Let me be the first one openly to be like, I'm in [music] therapy and we've all got our so like it's fine to admit that. And if anything, it's sexier and it's it's more appealing in my opinion in dating and life [music] if you are working on yourself constantly. The solo rebrand felt like Alex Cooper's true debut. No longer playing a character, Alex leaned into authenticity, shifting the brand from the shock jock sex talk to a mainstream media powerhouse, which is quite the shift and probably not very easy to accomplish. In the beginning of the inception of Call Her Daddy, very strategically marketing wise, I was presenting my looks and a valley girl voice. I started to feel a little drained of like how many more times can [music] I sit and talk about just sex? Then as the transition took over and I was now a solo host therapy, that was the main relationship I was in in my life was between me and my therapist. And so I started to implement like maybe I didn't have that week and that's okay. I don't need to talk about sex. Like, I can talk about what actually happened, which is therapy. >> Hosting Call Daddy alone kind of became the best possible outcome for Alex. It not only allowed her to benefit financially, but also gave her the freedom to reshape the podcast in a direction that might have been more authentic to her. Before Sophia Franklin's departure, Alex Cooper said she felt like she was just playing a character. She began asking herself what she actually wanted the show to become. Her original call her daddy persona was built around a kind of woman who dismissed her emotions. Because of that, even publicly admitting she was in therapy felt like a major shift away from the brand's original image. There's trust and there's communication with us. And it's not always perfect by any means. But there has to be trust. As long as there is communication, once that is broken for me, then it's done. And that's that's a known thing that we have. So, as long as he knows that and I know that, like, I feel like we're good. After Sophia Franklin's departure, call her daddy transformed. >> I think this resilience you have clearly from your parents and like listening to like culturally there was something embedded in you. Most annoying celebrity couple. >> Okay. Okay. There is a celebrity couple and their names I don't want to say their names but Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. I find both of their faces very disturbing. I was just like I'm going to just say it. Stop. >> Yeah, >> because >> they're disgusting. >> They're disgusting. They're ugly. Priyanka is a lesbian. >> Oh, yeah. Priyanka is a lesbian. >> She's using She's using Nick as a beard. >> Oh, and Nick Jonas has big nipples. >> While it kept some of its original explicit humor, Alex Cooper started to steer the show towards more personal conversations. Alex brought in guests and built each episode around whoever was sitting across from her at that time. Being able to do this banked on the existing relevance of Call Her Daddy. If Alex started over with a brand new podcast, she'd likely have a harder time. But that's not to say she didn't have a talent of her own. Comparing Sophia's solo journey to Alex, it's undeniable Alex had a drive to thrive in the podcasting space and a natural talent combined with her pre-existing knowledge of show business. >> [snorts] >> I started to learn that the way things go in business, it can go the way you want it to go, especially if you are the one that is creating the revenue. It all is very interconnected. And so I learned very quickly that I never wanted my agents to be friends with my lawyers. If anything, I wanted them to hate each other. And I didn't want the company that I was working with to have done deals hopefully prior with any of the people that I was working with. And if they had like it was not a friendship because all of these people then talk and that's how people lose all their money because everyone's working behind your back. >> Miley Cyrus appeared on the first episode giving the podcast a major boost as Cooper tried to prove she could carry call her daddy on her own. Who I am. >> Wait, we love that. And America loved it when you did it more on like TV. >> Oh yeah, they loved that. They love that. how much guilt that I feel like I've always had about feeling >> like I know how fortunate I am and I don't really feel comfortable with that. >> From there, the interviews varied on each podcast episode. But just like the original Caller Daddy, this new version of Call Her Daddy was instantly a success, even if it was a little bit different. This meant that Alex Cooper all on her own with this newly signed contract was able to retain ownership of the Call Her Daddy IP. A man's are a very like foreign region to women. >> Some guys don't like it. Some have less sensitivity and you can tug on them. Put them all in your mouth. >> Why did you decide to come back to social media? Because I knew at that point there is no turning back. Everyone knows who I am. I can't work anywhere. That's why I left the law firm job. It was very uncomfortable for me to work there. It's very weird to go into a job interview thinking, "Oh, I'm just going to go back to normal life." and having the interviewer ask you if if you if you did porn, right? >> They recognized me and I went to a couple interviews where some comments were made and then I finally got a job at the law firm. I feel uncomfortable everywhere I go. Like I I can't be sent into the field. They have to be careful about who they let in the office because some subcontractors are creepy. Like I started to feel like a burden on the person who was taking a chance on me and giving me a job. By June 2021, Alex parted ways with Bar Stool, taking the Caller Daddy IP with her to Spotify under a deal valued at more than $60 million. >> Call Her Daddy. You tell me where the boundaries are here, but how big is this show? >> I would say that it is um the most listened to female podcast in the world. It still doesn't really like register to me. Variety reported that the three-year contract paid Alex Cooper roughly $20 million annually. >> Our Daddy's gone. >> Oh, Daddy's not with you. I thought >> No, she got 60 million over 3 years from Spotify. >> From its start 3 years ago, the show has always been about challenging the status quo and manifesting conversations that previously only happened behind closed doors. Alex Cooper said in a statement, >> "The only reason I'm standing here right now is literally because of you guys for supporting Caller Daddy." And I goting custody of a ton of children. [music] I'm justing thankful I didn't birth all of you out of my mothering vag. >> The 60 million Spotify deal was ultimately validation of her ruthless pivot attracting A-list celebrity guests like Miley Cyrus, Haley Bieber, Kla Harris, proving that Caller Daddy could navigate any room. >> People went crazy over her three-year deal with Spotify, which was $60 million. So that was $20 million a year. And then before that deal closed out, she was able to secure another three-year deal, this time with Sirius XM for $125 million. >> At the time, Call Her Daddy consistently ranked in the top 15 podcasts across all platforms. It was the number five most listened to podcasts on Spotify in 2020. Call Her Daddy was also Spotify's second most popular female created podcast worldwide. A lot has been written about the financial um deal you did with Spotify. A lot of people talk about that. What what impact did that have, if any, on your life? There's the $60 million numbers flown around everywhere. You don't have to confirm or deny, but um did did that change things in any material way? >> It was the craziest truly the craziest feeling that I've I still can't really articulate of like I never started this for money. Spotify helped the show attract more and more high-profile celebrity guests. >> You married one of the most famous people on the planet, Justin Bieber. >> He's my best friend, and there's nothing better than being with the person that makes you smile the most, makes you laugh the most. Like, he's just literally the best human to me. I think that he's a person who has been through a lot and shouldn't have gotten gotten to the other side of a lot of what he's been through, and he has. and he's overcome so many different things in his life for being famous so young. >> When Alex had guest Demi Lovado, there was a more serious tone with discussions around addiction, self-image, and mental health. >> So, my biological dad, he was mentally ill and had a lot of addiction problems. My mom had an eating disorder. And so naturally, um, someone that's in their eating disorder who isn't aware of it, um, can pass on things to their child. >> Emma Chamberlain's appearance was promoted as her first official in-person sitdown interview. >> I was always really obsessed with YouTube because, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't have cable. I was in such a shitty spot that I was like, I have nothing to lose. Like, I'm so depressed. I'm so unhappy. I like I want to do something that makes me feel good and YouTube has always made me feel good. So, I'm I'm just gonna pose on there. >> Chelsea Handler's appearance connected Alex Cooper to an older generation of women in comedy and media. >> I could tell where the pods of whales were before they could even pop up out of the water. And my cousin, I was like, the guy on the boat would say, "Everybody go to the right." There was like 150 people on the boat. And he'd be like, "Okay, there's a pot of whales to the right." and they take you out of Sydney Harbor and you go out into these huge swells and I'd be like there's also a lot of whales coming up over here. I'm sorry but the thought of being on a boat on L I've never done L but like it sounds horrible. Chelsea, it sounds like aing nightmare. >> Alex dove into politics with then Vice President Kla Harris. I do want to focus on abortion for a moment because two years ago, Roie Wade was overturned and women lost their constitutional right to an abortion. >> I thank you for what you've been doing and at the earliest stage of this and following the stories. So, you know, on public policy, I often tell my team, look, I don't want to hear about public policy is a fancy kind of speech or or or paper. Tell me how it'll affect a real person. So, let's talk about how it affects a real person. The majority of women who receive abortion care are mothers. Every state in the South except for Virginia has an abortion ban. God help her if she has affordable child care. God help her if she has paid leave. And then she's gonna have to go to the airport, stand in a TSA line, sit on a plane next to a perfect stranger to go to a city where she's never been to receive the care she needs. And that's all if they can even afford the plane ticket. >> Exactly. >> Or the bus ticket. >> Exactly. >> These interviews showed how far a caller daddy evolved overall. you're leaving maybe college. Did you get the job? Who's moving? Who's got the boyfriend? Who's got the thing? And it's there's so much clouded competition because you think, well, oh god, she got married first and I haven't yet or she had the kid and I didn't yet. >> Well, because this is what we're doing is we're checking boxes, right? And social media kind of, you know, it exacerbates that because now you know what everybody is doing and and everybody's only posting the good things that they're doing. The value of cultivating friendships is important. [music] After turning Caller Daddy into one of the world's biggest podcasts, Alex Cooper expanded beyond hosting a podcast when she launched the Unwell Network in August of 2023. It was created under trending, the Gen Z focused media company Alex Cooper founded with her husband, producer Matt Kaplan, as a sort of umbrella company. It was designed to develop podcasts, digital shows, and creator-led projects aimed at a younger audience. >> Matt and I have offices right next to each other, and we are constantly in each other's offices or we don't see each other at all during that day. >> This means the company would bring in other creators to start podcast and try to recreate the call her daddy effect. >> How does Unwell make money? Like, what is it is the divide between, you know, ad sales, brand deals you're doing on the personal side? I'd love to understand that a little bit more. >> Yes. Matt and I were dating and he had a film and television company and he had output deals with Netflix and Lionsgate and he was making film and television. Great. My dream. I went to school for film and TV. I was like, I wanted to be a director one day. So, I was always fascinated in his side of the business. And then I had the podcast. As we continued to date, Matt was looking to potentially sell his company. Someone had come to him and been interested in buying his company. Throughout that process, he realized that there was such a turn happening in media where it would be more advantageous to hold on to it and to grow it and grow different verticals because essentially media companies now are so different than what they used to be. Um, these conglomerates that were more traditional media companies that you had to have a huge name like a Disney next to you, now you are able to kind of bootstrap it and do it yourselves and then you can sell it for even more. So Matt was like, "Wow." Like they were talking about, you know, they want to acquire event um companies and they want to acquire podcast companies. And he's like, I'm sitting there. I'm like, I could just do all that myself. And then we're looking at each other. I'm like, we could do all of that ourselves. Like why aren't we doing this? The network's first major signings were two young women who were major Tik Tok stars. Alex Earl, who became famous for her get ready with me videos, party girl lifestyle and an unfiltered personality, and Meline Argie, best known for her storytelling style Tik Tok videos. A majority of where we were initially making money was on the podcast side as we signed podcasters. We make money off of AdSense. Call Her Daddy is kind of like the mothership where we have my initial like huge deal that I get every 3 to four years and that is mostly on AdSense. Yes, both women launched podcasts under the Unwwell network. Alex launched Hot Mess with Alex Earl, while Meline launched Pretty Lonesome with Meline Argie. Alex later added other personalities to the Unwwell ecosystem, including Harry Jy and his Boyfriend Material podcast. >> His love life is talked about all over the internet. He was on Dancing with the Stars despite not being able to dance. He once wrangled a kangaroo with his bare hands. >> I did what? has your favorite reality TV boy reformed. He can make a woman fall in love at first sight. He is Harry Jy boyfriend material. >> The reason that I have been able to do what I do for so long is because of the actual like sweat equity that I have poured [music] into all the IPs that I'm building and it's because I love it. The network's biggest initial controversy came through Alex Cooper's relationship with Alex Earl. And on the back end of all of that controversy, even bigger allegations about Unwell's work environment started to surface. But going back in time before this fallout, Alex Cooper and Alex Earl, who are both named Alex, first began working together in August of 2023 when Alex Cooper announced Alex Earl as one of the first talents who signed to the Unwalled Network. The announcement was promoted through a joint Instagram post captioned, "Two blondes walk into a boardroom. The world is not ready." Variety reported that Earl had signed on to develop a variety of multiplatform concepts and projects alongside fellow creator Maline Argie. The following month, Earl's podcast officially premiered under Unwell. But by February of 2025, rumors of tension between the two Alex's began to surface. Fans noticed that Alex Earl skipped the Unwell Super Bowl party in New Orleans despite being in town and still part of the network, it seemed. But later that month, Unwell had dropped hot mess and renounced all rights to the podcast so Earl could pursue other opportunities. Alex Earl briefly addressed the speculation in a Tik Tok saying, "I also have no idea what's going on." >> And obviously there's been a lot of chatter online this week um about me and work and I also have no idea what's going on. So, in May of 2025, Alex Earl spoke to the Wall Street Journal magazine about her departure and bringing back hot mess, saying that it was behind the scenes a little bit of a hot mess. Fast forward to August of 2025, Alex Earl posted a Tik Tok video saying that her astrology app, her co-star, is letting her start shiz. I'm sorry, this just turns into a whole mess. My co-star told me that I can start today. It told me to. It said you could start some So, I mean, Coaster told me to. >> The following month, fans believed Alex Cooper subtly referenced Alex Earl's August Tik Tok. At the time, Alex Earl was on Dancing with the Stars and had just performed a dance to Britney Spears song, Circus. Alex Cooper's caption read, "How much time do you have cuz we could go all night?" and the video was set to Britney Spears Circus, the same song that Earl had danced to on Dancing with the Stars. Eight months later, the feud reignited when fans noticed Alex Earl had reposted a Tik Tok video criticizing Alex Cooper and accusing Call Her Daddy of profiting from woman's pain. I would honestly compare Alex Cooper to an ambulance chaser. [music] Like, you just had the most horrific accident of your life. You're, you know, hanging on by a thread. don't know if you're gonna make it. And she's the first one there. She wants to get the exclusive interview. She wants to be there when you're vulnerable and you're broken down. And I wish that more women, celebrities, female athletes, reality stars, mo anyone, anyone who's a woman on planet Earth, I wish they would stop making that their first stop. She is profiting off of women's like heartaches and failures and you know all these awful things that happen to women. She's profiting off of it. That's not girl power. People immediately noticed this repost. Alex Cooper responded with her own Tik Tok tagging Alex Earl and calling out what she described as passive aggressive reposts. She challenged Alex Earl to explain the issues saying that she had nothing to hide. The internet exploded. Alex Earl. Hey girl. The passive aggressive repost and the likes and the commenting on things. I got to call you out here. You're going to need to get specific and just say what you got to say about me. I'm out. This is over. Have a good Monday, everyone. Alex Earl was at Coachella at the time and later reposted Alex Cooper's video commenting okay on it and later shared a Tik Tok of herself reacting to the call out after Coachella. Hey guys, you guys know [clears throat] I don't usually address this kind of stuff because >> is it funny? It feels like a waste of time and honestly, >> no, >> it's embarrassing to participate in this other people and just say it [music] yourself. What's the beef? >> Okay. [laughter] >> And unsurprisingly, shortly after this whole feud erupted, Dave Portoi decided to weigh in again between Alex Cooper and another woman's beef. As if once again, a man is needed to explain or sort out the drama between two women. Dave talked about the drama sometimes in some very sunburnt Tik Tok videos. >> I said in my original Alex Earl versus Alex Cooper. I thought it it started the the ruckus started around Carl's Jr. Super Bowl ad. Um Carl's Jr. actually commented then deleted. Come on Carl, the internet is forever being like it was only ever Alex. You can't be right 100% of the time. discussed the feud in an episode of Chicks in the Office podcast because of course we need more podcast discourse. It kind of feels like podcasted. In my opinion, Dave has no idea what he's talking about and is just getting involved for the love of the game. And Alex Cooper posted this video on TikTok and she's basically like, "All right, Alex Earl at Alex, what's going on? Why don't you tell everyone what's happening?" Do you know a little bit of what's happening? So, I've heard her dad and and this isn't a knock on her dad, but like looking out for her, is like acting as kind of her agentish and doing contracts. >> Dave Portoy claimed that Briana Chickenf La Paglia, who works with Bartool on the podcast Plan Brie, told Dave Portoi that the drama traced back to brand deals and taking deals from each other. And Briana called Alex Cooper a mean girl >> because everyone goes on Caller Daddy when something horrible happens to them and then you take advantage of them and then just blow it to the moon. And I know a lot of people that went on Caller Daddy that don't have positive experience was with her. On April 15th, Alex Cooper addressed Briana's claims, claiming that the only time they had really interacted with one another was through the DMs, which was a fairly positive exchange, and that to Alex Cooper, Briana was just trying to add on to a dog pile. Briana responded to all of this on Tik Tok. She ended by saying that Alex Cooper's Instagram stories were mean girl 101. Okay, Alex Cooper just made a Tik Tok about me saying that she's not a mean girl because we had nice DMs back when before I found out everything about this girl. I was a fan of Alex Cooper before I knew the wrath of Alex Cooper and what she does to people and how she treats people. I am friends with Alex Earl. Alex Earl told me everything that transpired between those two years ago at the Super Bowl. She told me everything from what Alex Earl told me. Alex Cooper is a very, very mean person. In that video that you made, that was the that was mean girl 101. That was Mean Girl final boss video. >> That being said, Alex Earl herself has never said what took place between her and Alex Cooper. So, Briana and Dave Portoi getting involved in adding in all this speculation never went anywhere. There have been other people who have added to the speculation like the social media account Beetter who had claimed that they've spoken to people behind the scenes who had alleged that a lot of this fallout had taken place over Alex Earl's manager, a sort of Kim Kardashian Kris Jenner situation where Alex Earl's father manages her as her sort of datager and was unhappy with the politics of Alex Cooper. >> Who is one person you go to for business advice? >> Definitely my dad. So my dad is my manager. I started to enter this world. Um it was a little overwhelming at first just balancing work and opportunities. So it's really cool that we get to have that different dynamic now with our relationship. When Alex Cooper started bringing on Michelle Obama and Kla Harris, Alex Earl's dad didn't like that because he's right leaning. This caused a sort of fallout between political viewpoints which caused a further rift. Again, all of this is speculation. as neither women have come forward and fully confirmed what the fallout was about after all the hubbhub. All the while in the background, Simon and Schustster announced a memoir. This memoir was titled Daddy Issues by Sophia Franklin, due to release November 2026. I'm freaking the f out. I wrote a book. I couldn't even [laughter] I couldn't even land the line. I wrote a book, but I wrote a mother effing book, y'all. According to the press release, the book reveals new details about Sophia Franklin's time on the original version of Call Her Daddy, including her fallout with Alex Cooper and how the end of their friendship led to her becoming the villain in the internet's messiest breakup. My story has been told for me, and if you asked me to write this book 5 years ago, you would have gotten a different story. fearful, wounded with something to prove. Sophia said in the release, >> I just kind of shut down and I really numbed myself when all that was happening. So, I didn't really feel those emotions in the moment. And it was like later on that I started to like kind of let myself feel. It's been 2 years and I am a firm believer in therapy. I love it. And now I'm now I'm good. But it was it was really tough. I'm an author. I'm an author who sometimes podcasts. What can I say? According to Duma, both Alex Earl and her sister Ashton Earl showed their support by liking Sophia Franklin's social media post announcing the memoir. As Alex Cooper's media empire has expanded, so have the challenges behind the scenes. Sometimes a massive growth of a business is not always a good thing and can be incredibly challenging to manage. As their company trending grew, Alex and Matt hired young staffers drawn to Alex Cooper's brand. Publicly, Alex described the workplace as positive and safe. With a work hard, play hard culture, but Alex's transition to media executive brought its own ghosts. Drained by allegations of a toxic work environment and high turnover. According to people familiar with the operations, Alex's busy schedule would often leave Matt handling day-to-day management. Yet again, a man behind the scenes of a woman-ledd brand. And Matt Kaplan developed a reputation for yelling at staff. Crew members threatened to walk off film sets and live tours if Kaplan did not keep his distance. But he leads the company, so the cultures destined to trickle down. And those issues allegedly surfaced in March of 2026 during the production of the Unwell Winter Games, which was a YouTube series in which influencers competed in different events. >> This is THE UNWELL WINTER GAMES. [screaming] >> LET'S GO. >> Before this series launched, reports described a ton of logistical problems. Matt Kaplan reportedly bered the staff on set and threatened to prevent them from ever working in Hollywood again if they messed up, which is like classic toxic Hollywood person. Ew. This led crew members to file formal complaints and inform leadership that they would quit if Matt's behavior continued. >> Alex Cooper's husband, Matt Kaplan, has been accused of frequently yelling at the staff of the couple's production company. Sources close to Unwell Network claimed there's constant conflict between Kaplan and staff members for a bombshell Bloomberg report published Monday. Some of that tension appeared publicly in Call Her Alex, which was Alex Cooper's documentary about her first live tour. In one scene, a production manager threatens to quit, which Matt Kaplan blamed on the very demanding schedule. However, a person who was close to the conflict claimed that the issue was less about workload and more about Matt allegedly yelling and swearing at the staff. >> Kaplan's alleged behavior comes after Cooper said in a Marie Claire interview in 2025 that her door is always open and she wishes to harbor a very positive and safe environment for their young staff as a CEO. >> The documentary also showed the company operating in a very rushed high pressure environment. you know that work hard, play hard environment as it tried to build a live show around Alex's brand. Several highlevel executives have left unwell, including the company's head of brand marketing, head of network, its second in 3 years, and chief growth officer. Alex Cooper has said unwell employees around 100 people, but on LinkedIn at least 20 have marked themselves as leaving in 2025 and 2026. At the same time, Unwell has struggled to build another breakout hit beyond Call Her Daddy. Three Sirius XMbacked original shows launched in 2025 and were cancelled within a year. Things are not looking good for Unwell. In 2024, Alex Cooper launched Unwell Beverage. Come la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la launch my first product with me in front of the most powerful men in the world. Why? Cuz it's a Wednesday and I feel like it. I'm launching Unwell hydration. Carrying it a little bit in style in my Hermes bag. Maybe you're a that's always going Pilates. Unwell hydration. Maybe you're a that's always hung over. Unwell hydration. Love you. Can't wait for you guys to get it. It was launched in late 2024 before arriving in Target. And the drink was marketed as a functional hydration beverage flavored electrolyte drinks with added benefits like B vitamins, green coffee extract, and more than 700 mg of electrolytes. Just cra all of that in there. And since then, Unwell beverages has expanded to include Unwell caffeine-free, unwell sticks, powdered drink packets, and has expanded beyond hydration, releasing Unwell protein. But it seems like Unwall Energy is their most known product. But the early response to Unwalled Beverages was far from positive. Many fans seemed underwhelmed by the launch, especially after Alex had teased it as a major secret project, and their reactions to the taste were very mixed. The other day I went to Target. I have been dying to get my hands on these. You can smell it right when you open it. This one I would rate a four out of 10. Yeah, you can smell it immediately. I don't like that. I don't like that. But I really do love this one. The taste test reviews were underwhelmed to say the least, or unwell, one could say. >> Proven Jay here, and my wife said it would be a good idea to review the Unwell energy drink. It is watermelon juice, watermelon flavored. So, I like watermelon. I like flavored watermelon. Let's give this a try. I hope it's good. >> Oh. Nope. Zero out of five. Don't buy. >> I basically bought every single flavor of Unwell I could find on the shelf. We have kiwi pineapple. I'm not going to lie, it's kind of growing on me. It tastes like someone took a really delicious beverage, threw it out to sea, then you while swimming you stumbled upon it and took a sip. It's just not great. I I'll give it a four. Smells like nail polish remover. No. How'd they up cherry lime? While some took issue with Alex working with Nestle, a company that has faced a lot of criticism over its business practices, something that I really want to cover on my second channel. More recently, Alex Cooper said Unwell is focusing more on acquiring existing products, putting the company in a competitive market against larger, more established players. Call Her Daddy remains Unwell's biggest program. The company's ad agency has landed major clients like Google with Alex saying that part of the business is close to matching the podcast revenue. Our first partner was Google and it's a multi-year deal which was so incredible for Unwell to be able to um you know work with a company of that stature. Unwell hired new executive leadership like hiring Joanne Bradford as president. Bradford who had served as strategic adviser to Unwell since June of 2025. Ellen Rockamura who previously worked at the Ellen DeGeneres show joined as an executive producer. On May 17th, Alex revealed that she and her husband Matt Kaplan are expecting their first child together. >> I don't know what it is about pregnancy, but the way that I crave donuts. >> But even her personal milestone, pregnancy with her husband, Matt Kaplan, was met with the echoes of her past as old clips of her mocking other mothers resurfaced. Only 2 weeks prior to Alex's announcement, influencer Lauren Burnham Luendy, hope I pronounced that name right, had gone public with something she'd been carrying for years, a reoccurring segment on Caller Daddy in which they made jokes about Lauren's baby. 2 weeks later, as more and more people are finding out about that controversy, Alex announces her pregnancy, turning Alex Cooper's pregnancy into an internet controversy. Sharing the news on Instagram, Alex Cooper kept the caption simple, writing, "Our family," with a photo of her and Matt in which her baby bump is visible. [music] At the time, the piece about Matt Kaplan's actions within the company had just released, and there had been a lot of speculation about Alex and Matt's relationship alongside Matt contributing to a toxic work environment. Sources close to the pair told people that there was no truth to rumors of marital tension, but Alex Cooper's pregnancy announcement was met with a lot of criticism. On one hand, there were conservatives like Ben Shapiro who criticized the pregnancy, writing, "Tell them marriage is stupid, then get married and have a baby." In reference to the early messaging pushed by Caller Daddy podcast. The thing is, as we've talked about here, Alex Cooper's outlook on life has shifted very clearly and visibly since Sophia's departure from Caller Daddy and the total rebrand, which is natural, I'd say. Just as Alex's podcast changed and evolved, so did she. And not everyone's path should end in marriage and pregnancy, the Spinster life is one I admire greatly. And it's all to say no one should be demonized for changing just for the sake of change itself. On top of that, Alex has been very open and vocal, especially about how her feelings towards motherhood has changed over time. During an episode with an IIC Carly alum, Janette McCertie, the two discussed whether they saw children in their future. Janette Mccertie said she didn't want kids at the moment and asked Alex Cooper the same question. Alex admitted that in her 20s, she never pictured herself becoming a mother or getting married. "Now I got married and I want kids," Alex joked before explaining that the shift came after a lot of personal growth. Um, I don't want kids if that's what you're asking. Do you want kids? >> I do. I didn't think I wanted to get married and I didn't think I wanted to have kids. Now I got married and I I want kids. >> You want kids? Okay. >> This wasn't the first time that Alex spoke about starting a family. In a June 2025 episode of Call Her Daddy, Cooper revealed that she and Matt had decided to start trying for a baby. All of these decisions Matt and I went on to make in lock step together. Marriage, buying a house, starting a company together, all of it. We ultimately decided that we wanted to start trying to get pregnant last summer. >> But after getting off birth control for the first time since Alex was 16, she began experiencing intense pain and hormonal changes, which it seems is just all too common. She paused their plans and began to question the timing, especially while balancing her demanding career. Matt and I have a conversation and we decide to just put a pause on getting pregnant because the first priority was I need to get back to feeling good and normal. However, on Alex Cooper's pregnancy announcement, there were a lot of people commenting about Lauren Burnham Louis and hopefully I said that right comments that she had made two weeks earlier. According to Lauren, Alex Cooper and Sophia Franklin had a reoccurring segment on the podcast in 2019 where they joked about her baby both before and after she was born. >> A few years back, Alex Cooper was on Call Her Daddy podcast and her and her co-host would they had this regular segment ongoing and they thought it would be funny to make fun of our unborn baby. They took it too far. They made a regular segment before she was born and after she was born where they wereizing our child and talking very inappropriately and disgustingly about her. This was ongoing for a very long time to the point where I wanted to hire a legal counsel to go after Barcel Sports for this. Lauren said she had no issue with Alex and Sophia making fun of her or her husband, racing driver Ari Loudike Jr., but felt the pair crossed a line when the jokes involved their children. >> So, they make this Instagram for the unborn baby. They start making fun of how they made this Instagram, but then they start making this lore about the girl and they're like, Elise is going to be like on the stripper pole. Lauren revealed that the situation had upset her so much that she considered hiring legal counsel to take action against Bartol Sports. Lauren said that they eventually tried to move on after the segment stopped. Initially, Alex and Sophia appeared to be mocking Lauren for creating an Instagram account for her unborn twins. The audience agreed that this behavior was downright exploitative, which of course Lauren avoids talking about in her own recounting of this event, but we'll just move on from that. To Sophia and Alex, this is exploitative because the baby could not consent to being turned into public content. The account treated the children less like individuals and more like extensions of their parents' influencer brand. Lauren added to this by writing captions from her unborn twins point of view. While many fellow Alex and Sophia had a pointing out Lauren's cringe-worthy content, the criticism became harder to defend once Alex and Sophia started framing the captions as sexual innuendos, which is, in my opinion, a very disgusting thing to do. You're claiming that someone is exploiting their child and then you're turning around and doing something far far worse to that woman's child. Why would you ever do that? Alex and Sophia shifted into something way more uncomfortable and far far inappropriate, interpreting posts about Lauren's unborn children through a sexual lens. Through that action alone, it was Alex and Sophia who were doing the exploiting. At the time, call her Her Daddy was known for being provocative and uncensored, which might be why their comments slipped through the cracks before Lauren called attention to them years later. From the bullied girl in the basement to the pregnant media mogul, Alex Cooper's journey illustrates a relentless truth. To become something more than you ever dreamed of, you must be willing to sacrifice parts of yourself and perhaps a few others along the way. Alex Cooper is now one of the most powerful women in digital media. She has a 60 million podcast deal, a network, a beverage line, a documentary. She's also building a family with a baby on the way with lessons that she's going to pass down the line. Sophia Franklin has a book somewhere out there. The original Caller Daddy episodes still exist. The ones with both of them laughing, finishing each other's sentences or sandwiches. performing a friendship so convincingly people believed it was real. Maybe it was. And maybe that's the saddest part. Thank you for watching if you made it all the way to the end. Did you watch the early Call Her Daddy content? If so, I'd love to know your thoughts on the evolution of Call Her Daddy. Do you have a friend who used to watch Call Her Daddy? Maybe share this video with them to hear their thoughts. And I hope you're doing well. I'll see you in the next video. Stay well till then. Bye.