Since 2018, Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn have been hosting one of the most popular podcasts in the world.
The Call Her Daddy podcast, which is owned by US media conglomerate Barstool Sports, shot to notoriety within just two months of its inception, quickly becoming one of the top 20 most popular shows on Apple Podcasts.
For those who aren’t familiar with the show, the focus of Call Her Daddy is the personal and sex lives of 20-somethings Alex and Sofia, who are both based in New York City.
From advice about giving a good blowjob, to drunken stories centred around their close friendship, virtually no topic is off-limits. It’s sex talked about in a raw, honest way, from a female perspective.
As host Alex herself explained in a blog post: “Barstool liked our idea of uncensored, real, female locker room talk, which quite frankly is just as nasty as guy locker room talk. And we had no problem exploiting our experiences – as well as ourselves – for our listeners’ entertainment.”
But this week, after becoming a cult sensation in just two years, the Call Her Daddy podcast imploded.
Suddenly, after weeks of rumours, the behind-the-scenes drama between Alex, Sofia and Barstool Sports creator Dave Portnoy exploded on social media.
The drama first began back in April, when the podcast missed three of its usual weekly uploads.
With fans getting confused and restless, the pair shared a message on their Instagram account.
“No new episode this week,” they wrote.
“Finally, the trail will be revealed.”
When yet another week passed without an episode, the two girls shared another update, writing: “We are always 100 per cent transparent with the Daddy Gang but legally we can’t speak out yet. What we will say is… we will never f*cking leave you Daddy Gang. The minute we can speak, we will.”
In the days after sharing the update on Instagram, Page Six reported that Alex and Sofia had stopped recording as they wanted to cut ties with Barstool Sports, who they had signed a three-year contract with.
According to the publication, the pair hoped to cease their contract early, in order to pursue other opportunities such as book and TV deals, which they couldn’t yet access under Barstool Sports.
Speaking to Page Six, a Barstool Sports representative responded to the reports, sharing that Alex and Sofia had been given “significant raises” by Barstool.
“In the case of Call Her Daddy, we took a risk on unproven talent and put the full resources of Barstool Sports and our million-dollar marketing machine behind them to make them huge,” the rep said.
“The goal with all of our talent here, including Alex and Sofia, is that at the end of their contract, their personal brands are worth far more than when they started.”
Just weeks later, however, New York Post reported that Alex and Sofia – who are also roommates and best friends – were no longer on speaking terms.
Listen to The Spill, Mamamia’s daily entertainment podcast, below. Post continues after podcast.
“They’re not speaking to each other anymore,” a source told the publication.
“They’ve completely turned on each other and started arguing over who was the real talent and who did most of the heavy lifting [for the podcast].
“I think their audience would be surprised to learn what has been going on behind the scenes with them. It’s not the loyal fun-loving friendship they put out there.”
It’s believed Alex and Sofia’s feud stemmed from interference from Sofia’s boyfriend, HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson, who had been “shopping” the pair around to potential buyers even though they were still under contract with Barstool.
Speaking to the New York Post, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy shared that he pitched the co-hosts a significant raise, in the hopes of getting them to finish their three-year contract.
“We offered them mid-to-high six-figure salaries and a way for them to get the intellectual property,” he said.
“We offered them substantial raises just to get to get them to honour their existing contract.”
But while Alex reportedly wanted to take the deal, Sofia followed the advice of her boyfriend, 38-year-old Peter, and refused it.
“They’re definitely estranged right now. A lot of it is Peter’s doing,” a source claimed, speaking to New York Post.
Alex, meanwhile, is yet to publicly respond to the controversy.
Although it’s currently unclear whether the two girls will return to fulfil their contract, Dave shared that Alex will likely return and take over the podcast, while an offer is still extended to Sofia.
If the pair aren’t willing to work together, Dave hinted that the two girls could even host competing podcasts on the Barstool network for the remainder of their contracts.
Feature Image: Instagram.
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