Six years after one of digital media’s most publicized breakups, podcaster Sofia Franklyn is offering her detailed account of how her friendship and business partnership with Alex Cooper unraveled. In her 240-page memoir, “Daddy Issues,” released Tuesday, Franklyn recounts the turbulent rise and fractured end of “Call Her Daddy,” the Barstool Sports phenomenon that catapulted both women into internet stardom.
Franklyn and Cooper launched the show in 2018, rapidly drawing millions of listeners with unvarnished discussions about sex, dating and relationships. But their partnership collapsed during bitter contract renegotiations in the spring of 2020. Cooper subsequently secured sole ownership and went on to sign a reported $60 million deal with Spotify in 2021 and a $125 million pact with SiriusXM in 2024, while Franklyn established her own podcast, “Sofia with an F.”
Warnings and behind-the-scenes friction
Franklyn writes that she and Cooper became roommates and fast friends in New York after meeting through a mutual rideshare acquaintance, according to reports from NBC News and Rolling Stone. However, Franklyn claims people close to Cooper cautioned her early on. She recounts Cooper’s childhood friend and third roommate, Lauren, warning her that Cooper was merely using her for social status. Another longtime associate of Cooper, Muji Fricke, allegedly warned Franklyn that Cooper would eventually turn on her.
According to the memoir, Fricke was quietly kept on the podcast payroll and fed Cooper some of her most viral lines before Cooper abruptly dismissed him. Fricke also purportedly revealed to Franklyn that Cooper had capitalized on Franklyn’s heavy drinking at a company holiday party to demand a $20,000 annual raise from Barstool founder Dave Portnoy behind Franklyn’s back, Variety and Rolling Stone reported.
The fracture over ownership
The tension culminated in 2020 when both hosts sought to renegotiate their three-year contracts early. Their legal representatives estimated the podcast generated roughly $11 million for Barstool, Franklyn writes. The hosts jointly proposed a 50-50 revenue split and a guaranteed minimum of $1 million each per year. At the center of the dispute was the show’s intellectual property, which was entirely owned by Barstool.
Franklyn claims that she and Cooper initially pledged to stick together even if it meant walking away from the brand to launch a new program called “The Fathers.” Instead, Portnoy telephoned Franklyn to reveal that Cooper had broken ranks, hired separate legal counsel and offered to host the show alone. Portnoy offered Franklyn a separate, solo show with company promotion, but Franklyn declined, feeling betrayed by both the network and her partner.
Aftermath and legal threats
Following the split, Cooper released a 52-minute YouTube video addressing the breakup that labeled Franklyn a liability. Franklyn writes that the fallout sent her into a downward spiral of substance abuse, isolation and severe paranoia while staying at her mother’s home in Utah.
Franklyn also alleges in the book’s opening pages that Hollywood producer Matt Kaplan, who married Cooper in 2024, phoned her literary agent in an expletive-laden call threatening legal action over the memoir. Representatives for Cooper and Portnoy did not respond to requests for comment regarding the book’s claims, NBC News reported. However, spokespeople for Kaplan and Cooper’s Unwell Network told The New York Times that Kaplan never discussed the book’s contents or threatened legal action with the agency.
Franklyn said she now feels at peace after years of distress, noting she hopes to see the memoir eventually adapted for the screen.
