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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alex Cooper turned her raunchy podcast into an empire. Could she be the millennial Oprah?
With her long blonde hair pulled back into a claw clip and wearing a purple hoodie bearing the name of her media network, Alex Cooper sat across from the vice president of the United States. It was October 2024, a month before the presidential election, and as the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris was only doing one lengthy podcast interview. With Cooper. At the time, Call Her Daddy was the No. 1 podcast for women, and it remains a cultural force and a household name. The interview — one of the tamest in the podcast's history — made sense when Harris was competing against President Trump, who sat for interviews with ultra-popular, right-leaning male podcasters like Logan Paul, Joe Rogan and Theo Von. But aside from advocating for abortion, which she views as a women's rights issue, Cooper had never gotten very political. The interview, which was offered to 30-year-old Cooper while she was doing her first-ever live tour, is the peak of the two-part Hulu docuseries Call Her Alex, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 8. The docuseries charts Cooper's meteoric rise, from her not-so-humble beginnings as a raunchy podcaster whose initial claim to fame was popularizing a sex act she created and named the 'Gluck Gluck 9000.' Now, she's the interviewer that every celebrity wants to talk to. Jane Fonda called her 'one of the best interviewers I've ever had.' Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy, misspeaking slightly, called Cooper 'the female Oprah.' He was one of the first people to see her potential and give her a platform. Gayle King, one of the most iconic interviewers of all time and a friend of Oprah's, said in Call Her Alex that Cooper is 'a true girl's girl … I know she's just getting started.' Orna Guralnik, a psychologist who facilitates the sessions in the TV show Couples Therapy, said Cooper's skill is that 'she's not afraid of going to difficult places. Meanwhile, it's fun, because she's funny and warm.' Cooper didn't ascend to the top of the media mogul pyramid in spite of her raunchy past, but because of it. Her goal has always been to empower women, herself included. The idea for Call Her Daddy emerged from her desire to harness 'locker room talk' for girls, and landed right as women were looking for ways to reclaim their power in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Podcasting itself has long been a male-dominated field, but Cooper is an astute businesswoman who understands her craft. Call Her Alex extensively details how Cooper's competitive spirit, nurtured by her loving parents and cemented in her college soccer career, gave her the drive to chase her dreams of being a creator even when traditional studios and media outlets weren't giving her a chance. She took her dreams into her own hands, editing and producing the podcast she cohosted with her then roommate Sofia Franklyn, and just one month after sharing the first episode on Instagram in 2018, Call Her Daddy was picked up by Barstool Sports. It has only soared since then. One of the keys to Cooper's success is her devoted fandom known as the Daddy Gang. Lucy Donaghey, a celebrity publicist at Streamline PR, is a longtime member. 'In a male-dominated podcasting world, Cooper stands out. She is fun, aspirational and go-getting [while] still embracing the messiness of life as a young woman navigating the world,' Donaghey told Yahoo Entertainment. 'She's the 'It Girl' of podcasting, and for many women, a more relatable and comforting voice than someone like Joe Rogan.' As a publicist, Donaghey sees why Cooper books such big interviews: She's 'candid and compelling without ever becoming confrontational.' That puts her guests — and her audience — at ease. Even without a buzzy guest, Cooper is fun to listen to. 'Cooper herself is a huge draw. To her fans, she is a best friend, a big sister and an honest voice on topics many shy away from: mental health, sex, heartbreak and self-worth,' Donaghey said. 'That intimacy has created a cult following, which makes her show incredibly valuable from a PR perspective. She reaches a huge audience that listens and deeply trusts her.' Another Daddy Gang member, Camila Contreras Merlo Flores, is 28 — around the same age as Cooper. She was struck by how 'normal' the Call Her Daddy host has remained compared to her peers, in spite of all her fame and success. 'Her profile is one of so many people I know, but the difference is that she took conversations that were sort of 'off limits' for women and made them quotidian topics for me and my friends,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. Fans are a major focus of Call Her Alex. They laud Cooper's relatability and her candidness. At one stop on her tour, Cooper pulled a fan onstage to let her speak about how Call Her Daddy soothed her as she sat with her father at chemotherapy appointments. Cooper got emotional, leaning closer to her fan and asking gentle questions about how she's doing. For a moment in 2020, Cooper didn't seem like such a girl's girl. After contract negotiations with Barstool, her cohost Franklyn was dropped from the show, and it moved forward with Cooper as its sole voice. The former roommates, who seemed like best friends on-air, had a fractured relationship behind the scenes. In Call Her Alex, Cooper explained that they both realized 'the Daddy Gang was bigger than both of us.' Frankyln wanted to shop the podcast around in search of a better deal, but Cooper wanted to stick with Barstool for another year so that she could take ownership of the podcast when the contract ended. Cooper won the breakup. In 2021, she took Call Her Daddy from Barstool to Spotify in a $60 million deal. Franklyn, who called the situation a 'betrayal,' started her own podcast but hasn't been able to reach the same heights that she had with her former roommate. This also marked a major shift in tone for Call Her Daddy. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooper traded in some of her signature raunchiness for openness about her mental health. She stopped pretending she was 'made of steel' and talked about going to therapy. Even the tone of her literal voice changed. Cooper's persona might be relatable, but her success isn't. In 2024, she signed a three-year deal with Sirius XM reportedly worth $125 million — one of the biggest deals in podcasting history. Her trajectory is unprecedented but still feels inextricably linked to her fans, so they're basking in her triumphs with her. In addition to hosting Call Her Daddy, Cooper helms Unwell — an entertainment network with its own drink brand. She's redefining what it means to be a media mogul, signing younger Gen Z influencers like Harry Jowsey and Madeline Argy, crafting her own legacy in the same way Oprah helped make Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz household names. 'I want to create something bigger than just myself,' Cooper says in Call Her Alex. The way she has become a crucial stop in the press tour circus and begun to tap her own network of successors makes her sound like the next Oprah indeed. But is the path that Cooper is carving out for herself really comparable to anyone? 'The Oprah comparison makes sense in spirit, but the blueprint is entirely different,' Victoria Anderson, senior vice president and co-head of strategy for global marketing agency 160/90, told Yahoo Entertainment. 'Rising during an era of media gatekeepers, Oprah brought people into her world. Alex is rising in an era of chaotic communication infrastructure, and she builds worlds around her people.' 'She's not just creating media, she's creating gravity through a very modern style of influence,' Anderson added. As a fan and publicist, Donaghey said Cooper has 'already shown she can make her own seat at the table and build a cultural phenomenon.' 'I don't think she's going to be the next Oprah, but that is exactly the point: She is creating her own lane,' she said. 'Sitting in sweats with guests on her couch might not pull Oprah-sized ratings, but it's built a cult-like audience that's deeply loyal and only growing.' Daniel Iles, the founder of the social media content agency Viral Coach, advises influencers on their careers all the time. He said Cooper certainly benefited from being trained under the 'Barstool method' — the company identifies up-and-coming influencers and trains them to be successful even beyond the sports media brand. '[Cooper] has definitely conquered her zone, and she's carving out a new one,' Iles told Yahoo Entertainment. Oprah and Martha Stewart have both done that — taking a personal brand and turning them into companies in completely different verticals. 'Both of them got attention first from millions of fans, then built business around the audience that they already had, which is very different from how most entrepreneurs approach business — they build a product first, then have to go find customers,' Iles explained. Cooper already has both an audience and a product, so building a network around those things makes perfect sense. 'I think she's going to branch out and meet other parts of her audience's interest. Maybe she'll start a charitable arm for women's rights or do some kind of political move,' Iles said. 'Or maybe she'll keep things business-focused with a range of products. She already has a documentary on Hulu …. Why not do a reality TV show on Amazon or Netflix?' As someone who has dominated podcasting for so long, Cooper also runs the risk of oversaturation. Kevin Mercuri, an executive in residence at Emerson College, told Yahoo Entertainment that he'd advise Cooper to 'stay the course — slow and steady wins the race.' 'We've seen other podcast and internet personalities over-diversify to make money and increase market share, only to alienate fans and damage their public standing,' he explained. 'Jake and Logan Paul are good examples of overexposure. Both brothers are now perceived by many as inauthentic, given crypto scams and absurd boxing matchups.' 'Cooper can potentially be the next Oprah Winfrey, but the Oprah brand wasn't built in a day … I'd counsel her to focus on her podcast and be very judicious of every opportunity that presents itself. Less can be more when building a brand as large as Alex's,' Mercuri said. In Call Her Alex, Cooper's interview with Harris was depicted as a huge honor — and not one that she took lightly. She didn't settle on the decision to do it without processing nervousness about how she'd be perceived. 'I'm going to do it the way I'm going to do it,' Cooper says, rejecting comparisons to CNN or Fox News. 'This is Call Her Daddy.' When the two women sat across from each other — both smiling, clad in pointed heels — Cooper spoke about how 'as a woman, we have to work 10 times harder.' 'When people tell you no … what does that ignite in you?' Cooper asked the former vice president. 'I don't hear no. I urge all the Daddy Gang, don't hear no, just don't hear it,' Harris replied. 'I think it's really important not to let other people define you.' Maybe that's what Cooper has been doing all along.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alex Cooper on Why She Waited 10 Years to Go Public With Sexual Harassment Claims Against Her College Coach
Gilbert Carrasquillo Alex Cooper isn't afraid to go there with guests on her hugely popular and extremely frank podcast, Call Her Daddy. But there's one part of her life she hasn't spoken publicly about, until now: In her new Hulu docuseries, Call Her Alex, Cooper alleges that she was sexually harassed by her college soccer coach at Boston University, Nancy Feldman. The harassment was so severe, she says in the series, that she quit the team before her senior year. In part one of the series, which debuted at the Tribeca Festival on Sunday, June 8, Cooper alleges that her coach began 'fixating' on her 'way more than any other teammate of mine.' She recalled that her coach's interest 'was all based in her wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body, and her always wanting to be alone with me.' At one point, Cooper alleges, Feldman pulled her aside to scold her for spending the night off campus, and to ask if Cooper had had sex the night before. 'It was this psychotic game of, 'You want to play? Tell me about your sex life,'' Cooper said in the documentary. 'I felt so deeply uncomfortable.' Glamour has reached out to both Feldman and Boston University for comment. During a panel following the screening alongside Call Her Alex director Ry Russo Young, Cooper explained why it had taken her 10 years to come forward with the allegations of misconduct. 'I still feel so small,' Cooper told moderator Orna Guralnik, a clinical psychologist and host of Couples Therapy on Showtime. 'Part of why I struggled [coming forward] was because the person who abused their power over me and harassed me is a woman. I really struggled with that for a really long time because I didn't want [the story] to undermine everything I stand for: Fuck the patriarchy, fuck misogyny.' She recalls wondering, Will this take away from the message? but has since gained the confidence to tell her story. 'It is a position of power, and if someone is abusing it, it's wrong. Full stop,' said Cooper. 'It doesn't matter what sex, full stop.' The Unwell founder choked up as she added, 'I'm just happy I got that out there, but I still feel anxious.' The largely female audience, many self-identified members of Daddy Gang, gave her a roaring round of applause as she wiped away tears. In Call Her Alex, Cooper alleges that the harassment was ongoing for years. However, she says she remained quiet out of fear that her full-ride scholarship would be rescinded if she spoke up. But eventually, as Cooper details in the documentary, ahead of her senior year Cooper and her parents decided to complain about the coach's alleged behavior to the university's director of athletics. Cooper's parents recalled in the documentary that they went into the meeting armed with a book of handwritten notes—Cooper's mother says she had taken them down during phone calls with her daughter about the alleged harassment. In the docuseries Cooper alleges that the athletic director refused to even look at the notes, telling her that the school would not remove Feldman from her position. It was then that Cooper says she made the decision to quit the team. She says the school allowed her to keep her scholarship. Speaking to the crowd at the Tribeca Festival, Cooper said her experience 'doesn't define me, but it does help to talk about it. It doesn't mean I'm not scared shitless, it doesn't mean I'm not scared of retaliation or judgment. People are going to pick this apart—I understand—but speaking about it has almost allowed me to get one step closer to reclaiming this thing that has felt like a dark cloud over my life.' She continued, 'I think there's something about being someone who's very public about my life, I'm just kind of in awe at how I felt coming forward—scared, nervous, I doubted myself, and I think a lot of this process made me realize if I have the finances to pay for a lawyer, and if I have the resources to do all of these things, how is another woman going to feel comfortable coming forward? Like, I'm still fucking scared up here.' 'I was nobody when I was in college,' she continued. 'I did come forward. I was denied, essentially. The story is frustrating because I want to tell women, 'Come forward,' but I did, and I wasn't believed, and then it took me a decade. I'm not ashamed that it took me 10 years, but it makes me question a lot, and I think this documentary—as difficult as it was to explore, I actually think this is just the beginning.' Moving forward, however, Cooper says she hopes to use her platform to become reacquainted with the world of women's soccer through her brand Unwell Hydration's partnership with the National Women's Soccer League . 'That felt really good,' she said of the deal. 'I feel like that's a good 'fuck you.'' Call Her Alex premieres June 10 on Hulu. Originally Appeared on Glamour
Miami Herald
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
‘Couples Therapy' is renewed for Season 5
June 6 (UPI) -- Paramount+ announced Friday that Couples Therapy is getting a fifth season. The news arrives after the second installment of Season 4 began streaming May 23 on Paramount+ with Showtime. Viewership increased 30% across platforms when compared to the previous season, a press release states. The series follows Dr. Orna Guralnik's real-life therapy sessions with various couples she is counseling through relationship challenges. Couples Therapy showcases both the breakdowns and the breakthroughs, according to an official synopsis. Season 4B introduced four new couples. "People can just talk about nothing," said Guralnik in a recent preview for the episodes. "Either they just bicker endlessly or obsess over something that doesn't matter -- that's all noise... But as analysts we're trained to listen in for that and to find a way to move from noise to signal." 2025 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Tom's Guide
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Paramount Plus renews 'Couples Therapy' for season 5 after 30% jump in viewership
The Paramount Plus docuseries "Couples Therapy" saw an explosive Season 4B premiere earlier this month, enough to convince Paramount to order up another season of relationship drama for couples guru Dr Orna Guralnik to unpack. "Couples Therapy" has been renewed for season 5, Paramount Plus announced on Friday. According to Showtime's internal streaming data, the premiere for the second half of Season 4 drew in 30% more viewers than the premiere for the prior season. You can catch all four seasons of "Couples Therapy" on Paramount Plus with Showtime, and new episodes premiere on Fridays. The show features renowned psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Orna Guralnik as she skillfully navigates therapy sessions with real-world couples, uncovering raw emotions, painful truths and transformative breakthroughs along the way. So far, season 4B has included a deaf man and his hearing partner struggling to balance sexual freedom with commitment, as well as a therapist-writer couple stuck in a cycle of sacrifice and mounting resentment. "Couples Therapy" first premiered in 2019 and has long been a critical darling. It earned the Television Critics Association (TCA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming in 2021 and the American Cinema Editors (ACE) Award for Best Edited Non-Scripted Series in 2024. It's also received award nominations from the International Documentary Association, 2023 TCA Awards, 2025 ACE Awards, Cinema Eye Honor Awards and Critics Choice Real TV Awards. With season 5 locked in, that makes "Couples Therapy" the second-longest running series Showtime has on the air. It's beaten only by "The Chi," which debuted in 2018 and was recently renewed for its eighth season. Other Showtime series like its popular survival drama series "Yellowjackets" and spy thriller "The Agency" have also been picked up for additional seasons in recent months. So if you have Paramount Plus right now, there are plenty of quality shows in the pipeline to convince you to keep your subscription. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
UPI
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
'Couples Therapy' is renewed for Season 5
Dr. Orna Guralnik is the therapist at the center of "Couples Therapy," which has been renewed for Season 5. Photo courtesy of Paramount+ June 6 (UPI) -- Paramount+ announced Friday that Couples Therapy is getting a fifth season. The news arrives after the second installment of Season 4 began streaming May 23 on Paramount+ with Showtime. Viewership increased 30% across platforms when compared to the previous season, a press release states. The series follows Dr. Orna Guralnik's real-life therapy sessions with various couples she is counseling through relationship challenges. Couples Therapy showcases both the breakdowns and the breakthroughs, according to an official synopsis. Season 4B introduced four new couples. "People can just talk about nothing," said Guralnik in a recent preview for the episodes. "Either they just bicker endlessly or obsess over something that doesn't matter -- that's all noise... But as analysts we're trained to listen in for that and to find a way to move from noise to signal."
