Alex Cooper: From College Soccer to Podcasting Mogul and Recent Allegations Against Former Coach
Alexandra "Alex" Cooper, born on August 21, 1994, has become a prominent figure in the media landscape, transitioning from a Division I college soccer player to the host of the hugely popular podcast "Call Her Daddy" and a burgeoning media entrepreneur. However, her journey has not been without its challenges, including recent allegations of sexual harassment against her former college soccer coach.
Early Life and Athletic Pursuits
Cooper was raised in Newtown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, as the youngest of three children. Her mother, Laurie Cooper, is a psychologist, and her father, Bryan Cooper, is a retired television producer for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. Like her father, she found herself drawn to the screen. She chronicled much of her childhood on film, making home videos in the family’s basement. Her creativity served as an escape from the harsh bullying that she experienced during middle school. Cooper was taunted by boys for having red hair and thin legs, and sometimes things got violent. Once, a group of students slammed her head into the ground, causing her to lose consciousness. Despite the trauma of that experience, Cooper maintained close friendships with the girls in her class, especially one: Laren (sometimes spelled Lauren) McMullen. McMullen remained an important figure in Cooper’s life and in the life of her business.
In high school, Cooper excelled in soccer and committed to Boston University in 10th grade, receiving a full athletic scholarship to play Division I soccer. At The Pennington School in New Jersey, she played attacking central midfielder. Cooper, who served as a team co-captain her senior year, committed to Boston University. She majored in film and television, following in her father's footsteps.
College Soccer Career and Allegations of Harassment
Cooper played in 49 games from 2013-2015 for Boston University's women's soccer team, recording one goal and one assist with 32 shots (18 on goal). She appeared in 61 total games. She started six games as a junior in 2015, scoring her only collegiate goal on Nov. 14 against St.
However, her college soccer career was marred by what she describes as years of sexual harassment from her coach, Nancy Feldman. In her 2025 documentary, "Call Her Alex," Cooper alleges that Feldman "fixated" on her, made comments about her body, questioned her about her dating life, put her hand on her thigh, and wanted to be alone with her. She said she believed the attention was for her skill on the field. But it quickly became clear to Cooper that something was wrong.
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Cooper recalled that she was worried her playing time would affected if she "didn't follow this woman's rules" but eventually reported the harassment to the school’s athletic administration during her junior year. Cooper said in the docuseries that her parents backed up her accusations against Feldman, having written down every incident she told them about during her three years on the team. In the documentary, USA Today reported, Cooper said she and her mother, Laurie Cooper, met with BU’s “dean of athletics” and detailed three years of harassment. Drew Marrochello has been BU’s athletic director since 2014.
Cooper alleges that when she reported the allegations to the athletic director, no investigation resulted. “No investigation. Within five minutes, they had entirely dismissed everything I had been through,” Coooper said. “I said to my parents, ‘I’m done. I don’t ever want to see this woman again.’” She didn’t play soccer during her senior year. After being told that Feldman would not be fired, Cooper decided not to play her senior year, but she was allowed to keep her scholarship.
After the docuseries was released, Boston University told NBC News that it has a "zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment." The university stated, "We have a robust system of resources, support and staff dedicated to student wellbeing and a thorough reporting process through our Equal Opportunity Office. We encourage members of our community to report any concerns, and we remain committed to fostering a safe and secure campus environment for all," without directly addressing Cooper's claims. Though Cooper alleged that there was no immediate investigation, the release of the documentary led the university to hire an external legal team to review the athletic department’s policies.
In response to Cooper's allegations, dozens of alumnae of Boston University’s women’s soccer team have signed a letter supporting its former coach. The letter, obtained by NBC News and first reported by TMZ Sports, is signed by 99 former BU women’s soccer team members who graduated from 1996 to 2022. Signers included players and former assistant coaches. The letter says they aim to share their collective perspective “not to diminish or discredit anyone’s individual experience, but to speak as a united group of alumni about how our time in the program was different.” The letter adds that Feldman has “remained an important part of our lives, and we shall stand by her.”
Rise to Podcasting Fame: "Call Her Daddy"
After graduating in 2017 from Boston University’s College of Communication, Cooper moved to New York City. After graduation, Cooper moved to New York City to work in advertising and, shortly after, started the wildly popular Call Her Daddy podcast that would turn her into one of the most successful podcasters of all time. She worked in advertising and at Gotham magazine before a serendipitous introduction to Sofia Franklyn, who would go on to be her podcast cohost.
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In 2018, Cooper and her roommate Sofia Franklyn created and began hosting a podcast. They named it Call Her Daddy, paying homage to female empowerment. Cooper has said she edited the show to be “like a vlog” to hold the attention of Gen Z. The podcast's first episode, "Sext Me So I Know It's Real," premiered on October 3, 2018. They spoke about relationships, social excursions, New York, and their sexuality. The podcast quickly rose from 12,000 to 2,000,000 total downloads in just two months, becoming a viral phenomenon and placing them in the top 1 percent of podcasts.
After four episodes, Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports reached out to the women via Cooper’s DMs, which led to Portnoy’s digital media and podcast company acquiring Call Her Daddy. The co-hosts signed a three-year deal with Barstool. On a later episode, Cooper said that they were promised $75,000 the first year, $85,000 the second year, and $100,000 the third year, plus bonuses based on their success.
"Call Her Daddy" became an instant success, but the co-hosts disagreed on terms, causing a rift and eventual split between the two women. Ultimately, Cooper agreed on a contract with Barstool, while Franklyn left the podcast in 2020. Now the solo host, Cooper began recording weekly episodes and earned the nicknames “Father Cooper” and “Founding Father” among her “Daddy Gang” fans.
Cooper's solo "Call Her Daddy" show started in May 2020 and looked and sounded distinctly different. Her rebrand turned away from what she and Franklyn had described from the beginning as the exploitation of their personal lives. Though still proclaiming herself as the “founding father” in the intro and featuring frequent solo episodes, Cooper slowly transitioned the podcast to an interview-focused platform.
The show became increasingly known for its casual, conversational interviews with mostly female guests, who often opened up about controversial topics or things they haven’t discussed before. She began to book big guests, including pop star Olivia O’Brien and YouTube mogul Tana Mongeau. As Cooper transitioned from confessionals to conversations, one guest has continually returned: McMullen. Cooper’s childhood best friend had never been a cohost, but she became a key figure on the podcast. In 2025 it was revealed that McMullen had been the podcast’s head producer for years; she and Cooper recorded a nearly hour-long episode detailing the experience of working with a friend.
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Spotify Deal and Continued Success
When her contract with Barstool was up in mid-2021, Cooper and Call Her Daddy became even more successful. That June, the firmly interview-style podcast moved to Spotify when Cooper signed a $60 million, three-year deal with the platform. Following her business coup, Time magazine referred to Cooper as “arguably the most successful woman in podcasting.” She then began to record and release weekly video interviews with high-profile guests including then-Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential campaign, pop star Miley Cyrus, con artist Anna Delvey, Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, and former One Direction member Zayn Malik, who hadn’t done an interview in six years.
Alex Cooper regularly interviews her guests in sweats. She says this keeps the focus on her guests instead of her. Helping to set the relaxed tone of Call Her Daddy is Cooper’s distinctly casual style. She typically records wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants and even interviewed Harris in a hoodie. Her fashion choices serve a purpose: Cooper told Forbes she wants to make the interview about the person she is sitting across from, rather than having the focus on her hair or makeup. Sometimes her guests, like musicians and Disney Channel stars Aly & AJ Michalka, also come in matching sweat sets.
"Call Her Daddy" regularly ranks as Spotify’s top podcast for women and has often been in competition with Joe Rogan’s show for the top spot on the audio platform. Call Her Daddy ranked second on Spotify’s list of top video podcasts of 2024, with The Joe Rogan Experience at No. 1.
Expansion into Media and Business Ventures: Unwell Network
In August 2023 Cooper expanded her reach in the media sphere with the creation of her and Kaplan’s brand, Unwell, a podcast network launching new shows hosted by viral personalities, including Madeline Argy and Alix Earle. The announcement preceded her inaugural tour, the Unwell Tour, which began in November across the East Coast of the United States. Its success yielded a second leg on the West Coast in 2024. In December 2024 Cooper launched the Unwell hydration drink. The beverage became an official sponsor of the National Women’s Soccer League four months later.
When Cooper’s contract with Spotify ended in 2024, she signed a new deal with SiriusXM for the distribution and advertising of "Call Her Daddy" plus shows from her Unwell Audio Network worth up to $125 million, sources told Variety. The back catalog of "Call Her Daddy" video episodes can now be found on YouTube. Two channels on SiriusXM, Unwell Music and Unwell On Air, launched in February 2025 and feature live programming and music curated by the podcaster.
In 2023, Cooper and her now-husband, Matt Kaplan, co-founded Trending, a media company for Gen Z-focused films, TV shows, podcasts, and live events. That August saw the launch of The Unwell Network, which includes a platform for podcasts under Trending’s umbrella. Through these ventures, Cooper and Kaplan have backed podcasts such as Boyfriend Material with Harry Jowsey and Alix Earle’s Hot Mess.
After Cooper launched her own network, Rolling Stone called her a “Gen Z Barbara Walters.” However, she doesn’t intend for Unwell to just be a media brand and wants the work she does to resonate with women. To that end, in early 2025, Cooper worked with Nestlé to create the electrolyte drink Unwell Hydration, designed for women. The caffeinated drink comes in four flavors and can be found in Target, Wegmans, and Sprouts.
Personal Life: Marriage to Matt Kaplan
Cooper met her husband, entertainment executive Matt Kaplan, on a Zoom call for business in 2020, according to W Magazine. Kaplan is the CEO of ACE Entertainment and has served as a producer on projects like Netflix’s XO, Kitty and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Cooper and Kaplan are cofounders and co-CEOs of Trending, the Gen Z-focused media company they started in 2023.
In February 2021, Cooper announced their relationship in a YouTube video titled “I Have a Boyfriend…” but didn’t reveal Kaplan’s name at the time. To keep his identity under wraps, she initially referred to him as “Mr. Sexy Zoom Man” on her podcast when discussing her relationship. She finally revealed his identity in a W Magazine feature on their engagement. The pair got engaged on March 3, 2023, at their home in Los Angeles.
Cooper and Kaplan’s wedding was on April 6, 2024, in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Their Goldendoodles, Bruce and Henry, served as ring bearers.
Net Worth and Philanthropy
As of August 2024, Alex Cooper has a net worth of $60 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. This is due in part to her multi-year deal with Spotify she signed upon exiting Barstool Sports, which sources told Variety is worth more than $60 million. However, this is likely a low estimate for her total net worth, given her Trending and Unwell business ventures, SiriusXM deal worth up to $125 million for exclusive content that started in 2025, and the launch of Unwell Hydration. In December 2024, after signing with SiriusXM, the successful businesswoman announced she bought her parents a house in Los Angeles, so they could move from Pennsylvania.
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