Alex Cooper And Sofia Franklyn: The Legacy Of Call Her Daddy

Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn changed podcast culture when they launched Call Her Daddy in 2018. At first, the show sounded like two best friends talking openly about sex, dating, power, friendship, and chaotic New York nightlife. However, within two years, the podcast became one of the biggest and messiest stories in digital media. Their friendship fractured, their Barstool Sports contract dispute became public, and Cooper eventually continued Call Her Daddy alone while Franklyn launched her own independent path.

The story still fascinates listeners because it includes everything modern media loves: female friendship, business conflict, fame, money, loyalty, public betrayal, and reinvention. Moreover, the fallout shaped two very different careers. Cooper turned Call Her Daddy into a celebrity-interview empire and later signed major deals with Spotify and SiriusXM. Franklyn, meanwhile, built Sofia With An F, wrote a memoir, and continued telling her side of the split.

The drama also returned to the spotlight recently. Cooper reflected on the breakup in the 2025 Hulu docuseries Call Her Alex, while Franklyn discussed why she waited years to tell a more “real and raw” version of the feud through her memoir Daddy Issues. E! Online reported in March 2026 that Franklyn said she waited six years because she “needed to grow up.” Therefore, the Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn story remains relevant not only as part of podcast history but also as a case study in friendship, business, and public narrative control.

Who Are Alex Cooper And Sofia Franklyn?

Alex Cooper is a podcaster, entrepreneur, and media executive best known as the host of Call Her Daddy. She played Division I soccer at Boston University before moving into media and eventually creating the podcast that made her one of the most powerful figures in audio. People reported that Call Her Daddy evolved from sex-heavy “female locker-room talk” into a broader show featuring celebrity interviews, empowerment themes, and mental health conversations.

Sofia Franklyn is a podcaster, writer, and media personality who co-created Call Her Daddy with Cooper. Before podcast fame, she worked in finance and later became known for her sharp humor, deadpan delivery, and willingness to say the uncomfortable thing. After leaving Call Her Daddy, she launched Sofia With An F, where she continued building a fan base around dating, pop culture, friendship, and personal stories.

Together, Cooper and Franklyn created a dynamic that felt raw and intimate. Their chemistry mattered as much as the topics. Listeners believed they were listening to real friends, not polished broadcasters. However, that closeness later made the split feel more personal to fans.

How Call Her Daddy Started

Call Her Daddy began in 2018 when Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn were roommates in New York City. The podcast quickly stood out because it flipped the tone of dating and sex talk. Instead of presenting women as passive participants in relationships, Cooper and Franklyn spoke with the swagger, humor, and bluntness often associated with male locker-room conversations.

According to People, Barstool Sports became involved early, and the podcast quickly grew into a major success. Us Weekly reported that after only one episode aired, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy reached out, and the women signed a three-year deal with the company.

The show’s early appeal came from its lack of polish. Cooper and Franklyn joked about hookups, toxic relationships, breakups, cheating, and power moves. Additionally, they built a community known as the “Daddy Gang,” which made listeners feel like they were part of an inside joke. Consequently, the show grew from a raunchy podcast into a full-fledged fan identity.

Why Alex Cooper And Sofia Franklyn Became So Popular

Cooper and Franklyn became popular because they captured a cultural shift. Young women wanted content that felt honest, funny, and unfiltered. Moreover, the podcast arrived before every influencer had a confessional microphone and a media company. At the time, Call Her Daddy felt unusually bold.

Their format also helped. Instead of interviewing celebrities every week, the early show relied heavily on stories, advice, and banter. Cooper brought a high-energy, athletic, producer-minded personality. Franklyn brought dry humor, timing, and a more cynical edge. Together, they created contrast.

Additionally, the Barstool audience gave the show reach. Barstool already had a strong, male-dominated sports-and-comedy audience, but Call Her Daddy brought a major female listenership into the ecosystem. Therefore, the show became valuable not only because it attracted downloads, but because it expanded what Barstool could be.

What Caused The Call Her Daddy Fallout?

The fallout began with contract frustrations, money disputes, and disagreements over the show’s future. By 2020, Call Her Daddy had become a major hit, and Cooper and Franklyn wanted better terms. However, the situation escalated when Barstool publicly accused the hosts of breaching their deal and shopping the show elsewhere.

Us Weekly summarized the conflict, noting that the drama over contracts and salaries went public after Portnoy heard rumors that the show was being shopped to other networks. From there, the dispute turned into a public spectacle. Fans heard different versions of events from Portnoy, Cooper, Franklyn, and people around them.

One major tension involved whether Cooper and Franklyn should accept Barstool’s revised offer or continue fighting for a different deal. Cooper eventually returned to Barstool and continued Call Her Daddy. Franklyn did not. As a result, the original duo ended, and the show became Cooper’s solo platform.

The Role Of Public Narrative

The Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn split became especially explosive because it unfolded in public. Barstool’s Dave Portnoy explained his version on air, Cooper released her own account, and Franklyn later pushed back. Fans then chose sides.

This public narrative mattered because the “Daddy Gang” had invested emotionally in the idea of Cooper and Franklyn as a team. When the split happened, listeners did not simply process a business dispute. They processed a friendship breakup. Additionally, because the show had always sold intimacy, fans felt entitled to details.

However, the public often rewards the person who speaks first and most confidently. Cooper returned to the show quickly, explained her position, and kept the brand moving. Franklyn stayed quieter at first and later said she needed time before telling her side more fully. E! Online reported in 2026 that Franklyn connected the delay to personal growth and her memoir.

Alex Cooper’s Career After Sofia Franklyn

Alex Cooper’s post-split career grew dramatically. She turned Call Her Daddy from a duo-based sex-and-dating podcast into a celebrity interview show and media brand. She interviewed major figures across music, sports, politics, reality TV, and internet culture. Additionally, she broadened the show’s themes to include mental health, career ambition, trauma, relationships, and female empowerment.

In 2021, Cooper signed a three-year exclusive deal with Spotify, reportedly worth up to $60 million, making her one of the highest-paid podcasters in the industry. Forbes reported that the agreement cemented her as a top-earning podcaster.

Then, in 2024, Cooper signed a major deal with SiriusXM. SiriusXM announced a multi-year agreement with Cooper that included a broad programming development strategy and began rolling out in 2025. Forbes reported that the deal was worth $125 million over three years and included her Unwell Network.

Consequently, Cooper became much more than a podcaster. She became a media executive with a growing network, touring business, and documentary presence.

Sofia Franklyn’s Career After Call Her Daddy

Sofia Franklyn’s path looked different, but it remained significant. After leaving Call Her Daddy, she launched Sofia With An F, where she rebuilt an audience under her own name. The show allowed her to speak without the Barstool structure and without Cooper as a co-host.

Franklyn has also reflected more openly on the emotional cost of the split. Us Weekly reported in 2025 that she wanted to move beyond the “Barstool box” and discuss her growth after leaving the original show. More recently, E! Online reported that Franklyn’s memoir, Daddy Issues, gave her a chance to share a more personal account of the fallout after years of silence.

Moreover, Franklyn’s career shows that losing the original brand did not end her media life. She lost Call Her Daddy, but she did not lose her voice. Instead, she built a smaller but loyal platform that allowed her to define herself outside Cooper’s shadow.

Are Alex Cooper And Sofia Franklyn Friends Now?

Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn do not appear to be close friends today. In fact, Cooper had described the relationship as deeply strained before the public split. Us Weekly reported that Cooper said in Call Her Alex that fans believed she and Franklyn were “like sisters,” but she described their relationship as “awful.”

Franklyn, meanwhile, has continued to discuss the emotional impact of the fallout from her own perspective. However, public reporting does not show a reconciliation between them. Therefore, the safest answer is for them to remain professionally separate and personally distant.

Still, their names stay linked because they created something powerful together. Even though Cooper now owns the Call Her Daddy identity in the public mind, Franklyn helped define the show’s original voice. Consequently, fans still discuss them as a pair.

How The Feud Looks Different Today

The feud looks different today because the podcast industry has changed. In 2020, the fight felt like messy influencer drama. However, looking back, it also foreshadowed major questions about creator ownership, intellectual property, talent compensation, and platform deals.

Cooper’s later Spotify and SiriusXM deals showed how valuable individual podcast talent could become. Meanwhile, Franklyn’s exit showed the risk creators face when they do not control the brand they helped build. Therefore, the split now reads as both a breakup of a friendship and a business lesson.

Additionally, today’s audience may judge the early Call Her Daddy era differently. Recent criticism has resurfaced around old segments involving Lauren Burnham Luyendyk’s daughter, with People reporting in May 2026 that Burnham accused Cooper and Franklyn of mocking and sexualizing her child during former podcast segments. That controversy reminds readers that the original show’s shock-value style helped drive popularity but also created lasting backlash.

Why Their Story Still Matters

The Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn story matters because it changed the way people think about podcast fame. Before Call Her Daddy, many podcasts grew slowly through niche audiences. Cooper and Franklyn proved that a show could become a lifestyle brand, a merchandise engine, and a cultural identity almost overnight.

Furthermore, their split showed how quickly creator partnerships can collapse when money, control, and credit become unclear. Many fans focused on loyalty, but the deeper issue involved ownership. Who controlled the show? Who deserved the brand? Who had the leverage? Those questions still shape creator businesses today.

Moreover, their story reflects the pressure of female friendship in public. Audiences often want women collaborators to be best friends forever. However, real partnerships can include competition, resentment, miscommunication, and unequal ambition. Cooper and Franklyn’s breakup revealed the gap between public chemistry and private reality.

Final Thoughts

Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn built Call Her Daddy together, and their chemistry helped turn the podcast into a cultural phenomenon. However, their partnership collapsed amid a public dispute over a Barstool contract in 2020, and the two women pursued separate careers. Cooper kept Call Her Daddy, signed massive deals with Spotify and SiriusXM, and built the Unwell media brand. Franklyn launched Sofia With An F, later wrote Daddy Issues, and continued telling her side of the fallout.

Ultimately, their story still holds power because it combines personal hurt with business stakes. It shows how friendship can fuel a brand, but it also shows how money, ownership, and public narratives can destroy that partnership. Additionally, it reminds creators to understand their contracts, protect their roles, and define success before someone else does.

For fans searching for “Alex Cooper Sofia Franklyn,” the answer is not just “they had a feud.” The fuller story is that they created a podcast that changed digital media, lost their partnership in a very public way, and then built separate versions of influence from the wreckage.