Alex Cooper doesn’t merely present a podcast – she controls a cultural movement.
At 30, creator and host of Call Her Daddy has reinvented a formerly racy relationship podcast into a media empire that mirrors the changing complexities of womanhood, celebrity, and identity. Using her characteristic humor, honest storytelling, and courage, Cooper has emerged as a leading voice for a generation social-media-raised but craving authenticity.
When Call Her Daddy debuted in 2018, it was cheeky, brassy, and unrepentantly raunchy. Originally co-hosted with Sofia Franklyn, the show took off on the Barstool Sports network, drawing millions with its confessional style and “female Howard Stern” vibe. But the 2020 break between the hosts turned into a public circus—one that almost killed the show.
Instead, it became Cooper’s breakout moment.
“I just had to own my voice and the platform,” Cooper told a recent interviewer. “If I was going to do this by myself, it had to scale with me.”
It did grow. In 2021, Cooper signed a historic exclusive deal with Spotify for a reported $60 million, placing her among the world’s top-paid podcasters. Overnight, Call Her Daddy ceased to be merely dating horror stories and hookup advice. It was now a vehicle where celebrities, writers, athletes, and even Cooper herself could discuss sex, trauma, therapy, and self-esteem with piercing openness.
Guest episodes featuring Miley Cyrus, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Hailey Bieber garnered broad media attention, not only due to their celebrity status, but for the vulnerability that Cooper coaxed from them. She listened, gently asked questions, and discussed her own issues, how to deal with poisonous relationships, how to endure growing up in a broken home. The podcast had grown up, and so had she.
But Cooper never gave up the candor that brought her fame. She doubled down on it, reframing hard honesty as a form of new-age empowerment. “I want to deconstruct shame,” she said to her audience. “Whether it’s around sex or mental health or failure – we need to discuss it.”
That mission resonated. Today, Call Her Daddy consistently ranks among Spotify’s top podcasts globally, and Cooper’s Daddy Gang, her fiercely loyal fanbase follows her every word. She’s also launched her own media company, The Unwell Network, giving rise to other creators who share her unapologetic ethos.
Critics have questioned her pivot from shock-jock antics to Oprah-style interviews. But Cooper has embraced the contradictions. “I’m allowed to evolve,” she said. “We all are.”
In a media world still controlled by men up top, Alex Cooper is an exception – not only because she’s a woman of authority, but because she’s a storyteller redefining what power sounds like.
From scandal to superstardom, Call Her Daddy isn’t just a podcast anymore. It’s a mirror reflecting the messy, funny, heartbreaking, and enduring truth of coming of age in the public eye.
And at the center of it all is Cooper, headphones on, voice steady, rewriting the rules one episode at a time.
