Hey Creatorverse readers,
Daddy is cleaning house. On Sunday, word got out that “Call Her Daddy” host and Unwell co-founder Alex Cooper left UTA back in July, the creator’s home for the past six years.
Any time a major client leaves an agency, it’s big news, but this latest chapter in the “Call Her Daddy” and Unwell saga is especially complicated. News of Cooper’s departure emerged after Unwell hit a $500 million valuation thanks to an investment from WTSL, the firm from WME co-founder Patrick Whitesell. Cooper’s departure also comes while Unwell is in the midst of a series of toxic workplace allegations and Cooper is publicly feuding with fellow creator and former Unwell talent Alix Earle. It’s a lot, especially since Cooper and Earle seem hellbent on making snarky comments rather than explaining their beef.
So today I’m running the uninitiated through what we know, what we suspect and what could happen next.
It all goes back to 2018 when Cooper started “Call Her Daddy” alongside co-host Sofia Franklyn. The original iteration of the podcast was owned and distributed by Barstool Sports, which is how owner Dave Portnoy is connected to this story. Following a disagreement about compensation and IP rights (Cooper reportedly wanted to take Barstool’s deal of $500,000 for one year before walking away with the “Call Her Daddy” IP; Franklyn thought that was too low), Franklyn left the podcast. Cooper then started hosting the podcast alone in 2020.
Portnoy brought the Barstool era of “Call Her Daddy” back into public light earlier this month after his memoir claimed Cooper and Franklyn planned to get out of their contract by claiming they experienced sexual harassment. Cooper pushed back on that allegation during a CNBC interview, saying, “Dave’s got his version, I’ve got my version, and we’re all good.”
As “Call Her Daddy” grew, Cooper set her sights on building a media empire for young women, which led to the creation of Unwell Network in 2023. Enter rising star Alix Earle. That year, Earle signed with Unwell for her first podcast, “Hot Mess.” That one-two punch of buzzy podcasts helped Unwell sign a $125 million deal with Sirius XM in 2024.
But roughly a year after that deal was signed, Earle walked away from Unwell with the IP rights to “Hot Mess.” This is where things get murky, as neither Cooper nor Earle have explicitly explained their fallout even though Earle isn’t under an NDA. It’s widely believed — and Portnoy has speculated — that their divide came down to contract disputes. Earle has since said that the feud is “exaggerated,” and Cooper called out Earle for creating “fake drama.” Both Portnoy and Earle are UTA clients.
That brings us to this summer, which started with a Vanity Fair report accusing Unwell of cultivating a hostile work environment. Cooper’s husband as well as Unwell co-founder and co-CEO Matt Kaplan was called out in particular for calling employees “stupid” and threatening to ruin their careers. About two months after the Vanity Fair article, WTSL’s investment launched Unwell to its half a billion dollar valuation.
Cooper is now meeting with several agencies as she determines her next move.
It seems as though Unwell’s next chapter is going to involve a lot more production and more investments into the company’s growing creative agency. In addition to Netflix’s “Let’s Marry Harry,” Cooper is producing adaptations for “Deep End” and “Icebreaker” for the streamer and will be releasing “Unwell Winter Games” later this year. As for the creative agency side, that division of Unwell is on track to rival the company’s podcasting business by the end of 2027 and counts Google among its clients. But Cooper isn’t safe from headlines just yet. Franklyn’s memoir “Daddy Issues” is slated for a November release, and she’s made it known that she will be addressing her fallout with Cooper.
Now onto the rest.
Kayla Cobb
Senior Reporter [email protected]
What’s New
Alix Earle hints at Cooper feud again in “Earle Meets World” trailer
Whoops — we’re not out of the Cooper/Earle woods just yet. Netflix released a new trailer for Earle’s reality show “Earle Meets World” today, which features the creator throwing some serious shade at Cooper. Naturally, there are no specifics.
“She’s trying to paint it as I’m just like this crazy lunatic who is like hating her for no reason. There’s a reason,” Earle says. Maybe we’ll finally learn that reason when the show premieres on Sept. 4.
Digital Brand Architects acquires V1sion Ventures, and Acast acquires podcast network Backyard Ventures
Two big deals in the creator universe this week. DBA acquired the creator management firm V1sion Ventures, which represents several notable creator clients like Keith Lee (17.4 million TikTok followers), Leigh Soriano (1 million Instagram followers) and Joy Burnett (731,000 TikTok followers). V1sion Ventures founder and CEO Alina Benun will join DBA’s network and work alongside senior talent managers Veronica Avalos and Alina’s brother Jake Benun as well as talent manager Caroline Tollar and team members Arianna Robles and Tatum Crampton.
Podcasting hosting company Acast acquired the podcasting network Backyard Ventures in a deal reportedly worth $20 million. Backyard Ventures is home to about 200 creators and includes Ryan Holiday (1.2 million Instagram followers) and SB Mowing (3.4 million YouTube subscribers) as part of its lineup.
The Motion Picture Association Agrees to TikTok AI guardrails
The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance — the company originally behind TikTok — reached an agreement on Monday about how intellectual property from studios will be used in AI-generated content. Specific guardrails outlined in this agreement have not been shared, but the agreement applies to generative AI use on TikTok, the TikTok joint venture in the U.S., CapCut and Dreamina.
Platform Updates
YouTube will start counting views as soon as a video starts
Previously, YouTube only counted a view on a longform video if someone actively clicked on the video and continued to watch after 30 seconds. That’s changing starting Aug. 24, which is whenYouTube will start counting autoplay videos as views and removing the 30 second threshold. Counting autoplays as views is how Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and even YouTube Shorts count views.
It’s a bit uncertain how this will play out. On one hand, every YouTuber is about to get a massive viewership spike. That’s probably going to help cushion the panic around YouTube’s new monetization standards, which will soon require creators to have at least 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year. But the move will also likely devalue views, which means engagement and retention are probably going to become the hot YouTube metric.
Twitch auto-enrolls streamers to have their content scraped by Amazon AI
Last week, every Twitch streamer was automatically enrolled into a new feature that’s being used to train Amazon’s generative AI program. Surprise: Creators aren’t happyabout it. Even Twitch’s chief product officer admitted the program is opt out because “nobody would opt in.”
Speaking of Twitch, Spotify brought the podcast “Ringer Wise Guys” to the livestreaming platform. The music streaming service also introduced a badge for AI-generated artists earlier this month after user backlash. Spotify will exclude AI artists from algorithmic or editorial recommendations on the app.
Meta’s $1.4 trillion child safety case started yesterday
At long last, the biggest child safety trial when it comes to social media is underway. The trial, which is taking place in Oakland, pits Meta Platforms against several states that accuse the company behind Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp of designing its apps to be addictive to young users. Legal experts have estimated that the penalties for this case could be as high as $1.4 trillion, and the case is being compared to the landmark trials in the 1990s against cigarette companies. No matter how this one shakes out, it’s going to have a massive impact on social media and the creator economy as we know it.
Movers and Shakers
Jacksepticeye and Alanah Pearce partner on independent horror movie “Godmother”
Two more creators are trying their hand at horror movies. Sean McLoughlin, aka Jacksepticeye (31.2 million YouTube subscribers) and Alanah Pearce (684,000 YouTube subscribers) explained to me why they went the independent financing route for the upcoming movie “Godmother,” which is directed by John Veron and written by Veron and Pearce.
“When we initially tried to get funding for Godmother, we had numerous conversations with more traditional studios and financiers. Most of them required us to attach A-list actors in order to mitigate financial risk — one company even specified that we cast J.K. Simmons,” Pearce told me. “We could have pursued those options further, but in doing so, we would not have made ‘Godmother.’ We would have made some studio-mandated cash grab Frankenstein version of ‘Godmother.’ What’s the point?”
McLoughlin, who serves as an executive producer on this project, also told me he’s open to directing his own horror movie. After 10 years in the making, here’s how the upcoming movie came about.
The Design Network renews its multi-year agreement with Hulu
The Design Network, the hub for DIY, home and lifestyle creators, renewed its content agreement with Hulu on Friday. The brand is behind shows like Rachel Taylor and Tyler Banken’s “Backyarding,” Drew Lachey’s “Date My House” and Jillian Rose Reed’s “Alt House.”
“Backrooms” director Kane Parsons is back on YouTube
You can bring the YouTuber to theaters, but you can’t break his posting streak. After setting a box office record for A24 with “Backrooms,” director Kane Parsons posted a new Backrooms video yesterday. Take that, every Hollywood bozo who thought that the YouTube thing was just a stepping stone.
Who to Watch
Reckless Ben
As mainstream media becomes less stable, creators have taken over a lot of the boots-on-the-ground work that used to be reserved for journalists. And no one is doing that work quite like Ben Schneider, aka Reckless Ben (1.8 million YouTube subscribers). As part of his latest stunt, Schneider enrolled at Provo Canyon School, the Utah youth treatment facility where Paris Hilton alleged she was abused. Even though he’s a 30-year-old man, the facility accepted Schneider as a 17-year-old, and when he fled the facility after two days, Provo Canyon didn’t help Schneider’s “father” look for his missing son.
Of course, since Reckless Ben is an entertainment channel rather than a true journalistic institution, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. But so far Schneider’s investigation has led to the closing of Provo Canyon School, and the institution is evaluating legal action against him.
Bonus Content
- So You Want to Build an A.I. Star? (via New York Times)
- Influencers fear the AI ‘Scarlet Letter’ (via Business Insider)
- TikTok Is for the Creator Middle Class, But Top Earners Favor Instagram (via Business Insider)
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This report provides a weekly deep dive into the creator economy. It highlights key trends, political and technological developments, data points and industry leaders all with the goal of making you smarter about this constantly evolving space.
The post Creatorverse: Breaking Down the Alex Cooper and Unwell Mess appeared first on TheWrap.
