11 Rumors And Controversies Surrounding Alex Cooper We Just Couldn't Ignore

"Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper has been through a gorgeous transformation. It's a glow-up even more impressive when you consider the amount of rumors and controversies she's had to wade through on her way to being one of America's premier podcasters. From her public falling-out with Sofia Franklyn to allegedly making an employee change their name, she attracts speculation like a moth to an LED phone screen in the dark beaming a TikTok re-cap of Cooper's latest polémique.

Indeed, by her own admission, being talked about is an occupational hazard of her job. "Every single week there is this enormous amount of pressure," the former Barstool Sports employee turned media mogul told viewers-slash-listeners of her "Call Her Daddy" podcast in 2020, (via Vogue). "'Stay funny, be funny, say something crazy, top last week's episode.' And I'm sitting here now, and I just want to talk about real s***." But, often, that pressure has caused Cooper to put her foot in the proverbial "it."

So, let's take a look at all the gossip that's surrounded the self-proclaimed founding father since she started calling herself daddy.

"I know someone that went to college [with Alex Cooper]," wrote a user on Reddit in 2019. "Said she was always a mean girl and only cared about f****** professional athletes," they added. "So nothing we didn't already know." It all sounds a bit friend's-brother's-cousin's-dog-sitter's-aunt to us. But, was Cooper's alleged Regina Georgian behavior a certified fact or just salacious online hearsay?

The gossip began after a 2019 episode of "Call Her Daddy," in which Cooper didn't have the kindest advice college hopefuls and scholars alike. "If, however, you now are below a seven, girls, find a f****** hot friend [and] latch on," Cooper told the listeners. "Make her f****** be the one that's spearheading the f****** agenda and you're f****** hiding behind her and you run into the party behind her." Therein, doing little to help college inclusion campaigns across the nation. "So, guys, once again," she added. "If you're a six f****** join the sorority down the street where they're busted, because then you'll be a ten." It's hardly the advice that your parents might give you when dropping you off at your dorm before first semester.

Colleges can be a brutal place, from collegiate naifs documenting their struggle to join sororities via RushTok to balancing a hefty workload with a newfound social life. In this context, Cooper's comments do feel harsh. Nonetheless, there's no evidence to suggest she was the Marianne Bryant of Boston University.

If you've only ever heard of Alex Cooper in passing, then you might not have heard of "Call Her Daddy" OG Sofia Franklyn. Before Cooper did a Timberlake and went solo, she co-hosted the podcast with Franklyn on Barstool Sports. However, in 2020, the pair parted ways unceremoniously after Franklyn wanted to move away from the sports-entertainment media monolith in search of a more lucrative deal, but Cooper had already signed on the dotted line with Barstool.

As the years passed, while Cooper hosted "Call Her Daddy" and Franklyn created a podcast of her own, this business beef ended up getting pretty personal. "It was the classic, 'You think you see something online and people genuinely believe you're like sisters, but our relationship was so awful,'" Cooper later said in her 2025 Hulu docuseries, (via People). "I realized the 'Daddy Gang' was bigger than both of us," she added.

Franklyn, however, saw it differently. "I have text messages that I sent to Alex saying let's try to work this out, the show is better like with both of us," the "Sofia with an F" host said when speaking to "Money Buys Happiness" in 2023. "[Cooper] kinda had to step over a couple people," she added. "Usually when people like have a lot of success like that a lot of times it's because they stomped over quite a few people." With friends like that, who needs enemies?

In early November 2020, Alex Cooper took a trip to London. That's pretty innocuous, you might think. Well, that very month, the U.K. entered its second lockdown as a result to the ever-mutating coronavirus. What's worse is that Cooper seemed to be flaunting the COVID-19 quarantine rules. According to an eagle-eyed Reddit user, Cooper looked pretty busy as soon as she arrived in London and there was no sign she'd abided by the rules, which stated she must quarantine for 14 days. If she'd been abiding by the those measures, she wouldn't have been able to get her story snaps of Baroque bar ceilings.

"She literally went from NY to LA back to NY and then to London within 14 days," one user noted in the comments of the expose. "Girl hasn't quarantined since April." It's safe to say her fans were not letting her off the hook. "World: everyone forced to put their lives on hold to deal with the virus that is actively killing millions, Alex: perfect time to travel around the world chasing one f****** D," said another user. "Literally the worst way to act during a GLOBAL pandemic."

It might seem like an overreaction, but that very month, as per the World Health Organization, 50,000 people died worldwide from the virus. Why couldn't Cooper have just been one of the many celebrities who waited out quarantine in luxury?

Greek Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle has made some of the most embarrassing photoshop fails. Heck, here's five times Laura Loomer's obvious Photoshop filters were even worse. That is to say that Alex Cooper is hardly the first celebrity to have used some Photoshop poetic license on her Instagram, but that didn't stop her getting heat from her fans.

The photo in question was from Cooper's birthday celebrations in Las Vegas. In a pic she posted, fans noticed her waist was a lot slimmer when compared to the same photo her pal put up. "F her for this," wrote one user on Reddit in 2021, on a thread discussing her photo fakery. "This s*** is dangerous and I feel bad for the younger generation growing up with this," they added. "If it can affect me, a grown woman, like this, they're in trouble."

Thankfully, Cooper has realized the error of her ways and got candid on "The Drew Barrymore Show". "I think every single photo that's edited should have to have a sign somewhere saying 'edited,'" she told the "Charlie's Angels" star. "I had an insecure moment, and I cinched in my waist," the Pennsylvania native added. "In that moment, I was like, 'wait, why did I do that?' Maybe if I, with my platform, openly say, 'I'm done, every photo you now see of me going forward I will not Photoshop,' that will inspire others to be a little bit more authentic."

Where are the "Perfect Match" couples now? Well, chances are Harry Jowsey is on Alex Cooper's podcast or on his own podcast, "Boyfriend Material," which Cooper's company owns. But after his exploits on season two of the Netflix show, in which Jowsey's bad boy behavior made headlines, Cooper's daddy gang weren't too keen on his proximity to the Unwell extended universe.

"Alex cooper giving him a platform and employing is a slap to all women right in the face," said one "Call Her Daddy" disciple online, (via The Mirror U.S.). "He is a manipulative narcissist who has no respect for women," they continued. "Alex should be giving that platform to someone else not this manchild." But that's not all there is to this rumor-slash-controversy.

Indeed, some have speculated that Cooper and Jowsey were more than just business partners. "My opinion: absolutely no way they havent hooked up," said a speculator on Reddit. "They have either DEFINITELY hooked up or talked about hooking up (like for real not on a podcast)." In fact, others went even further with their claims. "[T]here was an unwell event where she had her legs wrapped around him," alleged another user on Reddit. Despite the suggestion, there's little evidence to back it up. On the contrary, meet Cooper's fiancé (now husband), Matt Kaplan.

An over-subscribed Chicago venue, an injured photographer, and a lawsuit. As Alex Cooper found out, that's the perfect cocktail for controversy. Or, perhaps we should say, controversies. Firstly, her fans weren't happy. After a tour show in the Illinois city, Cooper made an appearance at the Good Night John Boy club on a floor that has a sub-400 capacity, which she advertised to millions of followers. You do the math. According to one boots-on-the-ground Redditor, there was a blockbusting queue for the venue, and the security only let in the first 150 people in, most of whom weren't even at Cooper's tour show. But that was just the tip of this iceberg.

Cooper was also hit with a lawsuit, but not by a disgruntled fan, by a photographer at the venue. Olivia Wolf, a Chicago snapper and fan of the "Call Her Daddy" host, sustained a back injury when a member of Cooper's posse took umbrage to photos being taken and got physical. When Wolf heard nothing from Cooper and co., she took it to court. However, although Cooper was linked to the lawsuit, her lawyers argued it wasn't her fault. "Despite the rhetoric, this matter has nothing to do with Alex Cooper," said Bryan Freedman, her attorney, as per the New York Post. "[It] is nothing more than an insurance claim which is being handled by the carrier." It's all a bit of a tempest in Cooper's vodka martini, really.

According to DeuxMoi, in March 2025, "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper was about to be exposed. Big time. "A famous, well-known, well-respected magazine is working on an exposé of Alex Cooper," the anonymous gossip oracle said in their podcast, quoting a source. "I have it on good authority that NDAs are being signed, and people are being interviewed."

Although the details were unclear, it didn't sound good for Cooper and, allegedly, the whispers around LA influencer circles made it sound as bad as hearing Erewhon is out of smoothies. After all, she has ruffled some feathers in her time. Whether it's "Bachelor" star Lauren Burnham or former pal Sofia Franklyn, there's certainly a few famous faces that'd like to see Cooper get the Louis Theroux treatment. Enough for an exposé? We're not sure. "Even if someone was to come forward and say she's tough and she's a b**** and this and that," added DeuxMoi. "Aren't that what female entrepreneurs are?"

Indeed, even the Unwell founder herself believes that making noise is just the price of doing business. "I'm always down to shake s*** up," Cooper told Vogue in 2025. "I also know that's kind of my bread and butter," she added. "Every day I wake up and go to bed, I'm a marketer through and through ... That is who I am." So, perhaps, an exposé is less a revelation and more an inevitability.

Being an internet star often means being the subject of some pretty bizarre rumors. Whether it's Madeline Argy finding out she's pregnant on her FYP or people mistaking Charli D'Amelio's vape for an anxiety pen, influencer gossip can be as fanciful as a Grimm brother's fairytale. In 2025, Alex Cooper was the subject of a similarly tall tale, courtesy of DeuxMoi.

According to an anonymous source, an Unwell employee called Claire was asked to change her name to Charlie. Why? Because Matt Kaplan, Cooper's husband, was previously married to "H2O: Just Add Water" star Claire Holt, and the "Call Her Daddy" podcast powerhouse felt uncomfortable with an employee sharing her partner's former spouse's name.

It was a rumor so out there that Cooper herself took the time to respond. "What's sad, I think, is that assistant is like a very private person, and she was like so upset about it," Cooper said on Harry Jowsey's "Boyfriend Material" podcast. "I think the testament to how weird our industry is when you tell someone like what's going on," she added. "[People ask] 'Well, what are you going to do? Like, are you going to say anything?' And I'm like, 'No, it's just like another rumor.'" Indeed, gossipers are always gossiping when it comes to social media stars and those who podcast professionally. For example, here are rumors about Jelly Roll's podcaster wife Bunnie Xo we couldn't ignore.

Alex Cooper and Alix Earle were like two peas in a pod. Essentially, they were the Lorde and Charli XCX of internet celebrities: they have the same hair, they collaborated, and they even went out together. But, like the two pop stars, there were also rumors of a feud. In February 2025, Cooper's company Unwell dropped Earle and her "Hot Mess" podcast from its roster. When asked what happened between her and Cooper on TikTok, Earle wrote, "how much time do you have." Naturally, many speculated that there was a beef between these pals.

In April 2026, the feud went nuclear. As per Teen Vogue, Earle reposted a TikTok that criticized (read: slandered) Cooper, suggesting she'd built her career off women's suffering. "What's the beef?" Cooper responded in a TikTok video, tagging Earle and addressing her directly. "'Cause I'm really tired of waking up and seeing you using this fake drama to distract from other s*** going online for you," she added. "Not interested." In response to the response, Earle said, "Okay, on it!" The beef was so noteworthy it even got parodied on SNL, which Earle, as per E! News, said made her laugh.

Let's hope this drama has a "Girl, so confusing"-style ending. The internet would certainly go bananas, if it hasn't already.

Once upon a time Matt Kaplan was known as "Mr. Sexy Zoom Man" to fans of "Call Her Daddy." That man from Zoom then became Alex Cooper's husband and the co-founder-slash-co-CEO of Unwell alongside his wife. However, Kaplan isn't exactly a fan favorite in the Cooper sphere, with some suggesting he even takes a master-puppeteer role in the company (and his partner's life).

As one anonymous source told DeuxMoi, "Alex Cooper is Matt Kaplan's brand." Allegedly, Kaplan is thinking big when it comes to Cooper's career, seeing his wife as the TikTok generation's answer to Oprah Winfrey. Kaplan's level of control is something the daddy gang has also picked up on. "I knew it was a red flag when she came out and said he planned their whole wedding," quipped a user on Reddit. For your own sake, here's the relationship red flags science says you need to watch out for. "Always thought their power dynamic was off from the 'Mr sexy zoom man' days," said another Reddit user. "Like it gave me a bad vibe about him." Unfortunately, that isn't the last of the Kaplan-based controversy.

With more turnover in staff than an NBA team's roster, is Alex Cooper actually not that good of a boss? According to a report from Bloomberg, there's certainly room for improvement. After Unwell hired a plethora of employees to work at the ever-diversifying brand, there was more drama than ever. The issue is, that drama was inside the company and not in its content.

The report alleges that Cooper's business faces issues with employees wanting to leave, a plateauing slate of Gen-Z-focused programming, plus discord between some staff members and Kaplan. In fact, some of the workforce even threatened to walk off production jobs due to his behavior. Yikes. It's not what you'd want in your Monday morning in-tray.

Take the Unwell Winter Games, for example. At the event where influencers entered the gladiatorial arena of drinking games and snowmobiling, there weren't just shocks on-screen. Allegedly, as per TMZ, there were multiple logistical issues when preparing to shoot, with "Love Island" star Kendall Washington leaving and having to be hastily replaced by a member of the production staff. What's more, at the event, Kaplan was said to have berated staff and threatened to blacklist employees from the industry. It certainly doesn't sound like the healthiest working environment.