Alex Cooper has responded for the first time to Dave Portnoy’s claim that she once told him she and former Call Her Daddy co-host Sofia Franklyn had discussed saying they were sexually harassed at Barstool Sports as a way to get out of their contracts.
During an Aug. 12 appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Cooper pushed back on Portnoy’s account without offering a detailed version of her own. “That’s not how I remember that at all,” she said before adding, “Dave’s got his version, and I’ve got my version, and we’re all good.”
The allegation appears in Portnoy’s memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, which was released June 30. As TheWrap reported, Portnoy alleges Cooper told him that she and Franklyn had considered making sexual harassment claims against Barstool as part of their effort to leave their contracts.
Cooper said she has not read Portnoy’s book and declined CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin’s invitation to explain her version of the dispute. Instead, she joked that she was in her “mother era” and had no interest in revisiting old drama while appearing on the program to discuss business.
Cooper Calls Her Relationship With Portnoy ‘Great and Complicated’
She described him as entertaining and characterized their relationship as both positive and complicated. “Whenever I see Dave online, we all enjoy his banter,” Cooper said. “He is a very entertaining person, and I have a very great and complicated relationship with Dave.”
She also credited him with helping launch her career. “He gave me my start in this industry and I will never not be grateful to him,” Cooper said during the CNBC interview.
When Sorkin pressed her on why she had not responded to Portnoy’s allegation before, Cooper joked, “I’ve been pregnant, Andrew. I’m busy building a child.” Sorkin then asked whether she wanted to tell viewers what she remembered happening. Cooper declined. “No. I am in my mother era,” she said. “I’m no drama right now, Andrew. We’re here to talk business.”
Portnoy Made the Allegation in ‘Cancel Me If You Can’
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Portnoy’s account became public shortly before his memoir’s June 30 release. According to PEOPLE, citing reporting on the book, Portnoy alleges Cooper once told him that she and Franklyn had planned to say they were sexually harassed at Barstool in an effort to get out of their contracts.
Portnoy also discussed the breakup during a June 30 TMZ Live interview. He said Cooper and Franklyn stopped recording while still under contract and that he countered by offering them more money, a shorter remaining term and eventual ownership of the Call Her Daddy intellectual property.
According to Portnoy, he and Cooper eventually got back on the same page before she later told him there had been discussion of using workplace allegations to escape the agreement.
The Contract Fight Split Cooper and Franklyn
Cooper and Franklyn co-founded Call Her Daddy in 2018 and signed a three-year deal with Barstool Sports. Their relationship with the company deteriorated during contract negotiations in 2020, ultimately leaving the two hosts on different paths.
Cooper has previously said that Portnoy offered them ownership of the Call Her Daddy intellectual property if they stayed with Barstool for another year. “Sofia didn’t want to take the deal, but I did, so I stayed,” Cooper said in her 2025 Hulu docuseries Call Her Alex. “I realized the ‘Daddy Gang’ was bigger than both of us.”
Franklyn left the podcast in 2020, while Cooper continued as its solo host. Cooper subsequently left Barstool with the Call Her Daddy IP and signed a three-year, $60 million agreement with Spotify in 2021. Franklyn went on to launch Sofia with an F. She is also preparing to revisit the fallout in her memoir, Daddy Issues, which is scheduled for release later this year.
Cooper’s CNBC Appearance Came as Unwell Hit a $500 Million Valuation
The Portnoy question came during a CNBC appearance tied to another major development in Cooper’s career. Unwell, the media company she co-founded with husband Matt Kaplan in 2023, has secured its first outside investment at a $500 million pre-money valuation.
The investment came from WTSL, the media, entertainment and sports investment firm led by former Endeavor executive Patrick Whitesell and Jason Lublin. TheWrap reported that Cooper and Kaplan had self-funded the company before the WTSL deal, making it Unwell’s first outside investment.
Cooper told CNBC that Unwell has been profitable since its launch and said the decision to seek outside capital was not driven by an immediate need for cash. “This decision wasn’t about needing cash infusion,” she said. “It was really about wanting to partner with someone who could help us go to the next level with acquisitions and investments.”
Unwell now operates more than a dozen podcasts while also expanding into film and television, live events, consumer products and its in-house creative agency. Cooper said the new capital will be used to pursue acquisitions and investments in intellectual property, talent and other companies as the business continues to expand.