Sofia Franklyn Memoir Daddy Issues: Call Her Daddy, Alex Cooper Split

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It’s been almost six years since Call her daddy the breakup shook the podcasting world. And somehow, there’s even more things people don’t know about the hit series’ breathtaking disbandment.

Launched in 2018, Call her daddy has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the entertainment world, becoming Barstool Sports’ most popular show and racking up millions of weekly downloads. Co-hosted by self-proclaimed best friends Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn, Call her daddy reveled in its shock value, with fans flocking each week to hear raunchy takes on dating, sexual favors and feminism. The main draw was the relationship between the hosts, so listeners were understandably shocked in 2020 when news broke that, after months of contract negotiations with Barstool and its owner, Dave Portnoy, the podcast duo would be splitting up. Cooper kept the spotlight – and Franklyn was left with nothing.

The story has been discussed ad nauseam online in the years since, with each side rallying fans around their own version of events. (Cooper claimed Franklyn wanted to leave Barstool and was willing to blow up the show to do it. Franklyn said she tried to make negotiations work and was blindsided when she was cut out of the deal.) Cooper repeatedly declined to comment. rolling stonebut in several episodes of Call her daddyher stories about Franklyn and the split went from scorched-earth accusations of lies to vague acknowledgments of Franklyn’s existence — a position of power aided by her $60 million Spotify deal and her reigning role as queen of podcasting. (Portnoy, in a comment posted to Rolling stone, claimed that Franklyn “can’t get his story straight. “)

But in his new memoir, Daddy Issues, released on Tuesday, Franklyn finally tells the story from her point of view. The book traces his early childhood in Utah, a failed career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley, the chance meeting with Cooper that led him to Call her daddy, and the highly publicized breakdown of a friendship and its painful consequences.

“The decision (to write the book) was made by myself,” Franklyn said. rolling stone in February. “Six years ago, I was in shock from an experience I didn’t understand. I needed to grow up and be free of my ego as much as possible.”

Here are the biggest bombs of Daddy issues:

Franklyn’s early years and time in the spotlight were dominated by heavy alcohol and drug use.

On Call her daddyCooper and Franklyn were open about their partying habits. In fact, carefree nights out in New York fueled some of their most popular stories. But Franklyn reveals in her memoir that she spent much of her youth abusing drugs and alcohol. She was arrested for using a fake ID and then twice for underage drinking. In one particularly shocking story she told on the podcast and recalled in the book, Franklyn accidentally smoked meth, thinking she was just doing cocaine. When a friend offered her heroin, it served as a wake-up call — and contributed to the impetus to move to New York.

Although she was perhaps a little more careful about what drugs she accepted from strangers, Franklyn retained many of the same partying habits when she moved. But in Daddy issuesshe notes that she often went out to avoid feelings related to the complicated family dynamics of her childhood, moving, career, and situation in life.

She met Cooper in 2018 after a chance meeting with a girl in a carpool. The woman knew two people who needed a third roommate, and when Franklyn complained about her rent, she offered him their numbers. Franklyn and Cooper immediately became a duo and started partying together. Considering Franklyn had virtually no friends in town at that time, she needed both a support system and a distraction, she wrote, and Cooper’s all-encompassing nature catered to both.

Cooper’s best friend Lauren, who was also their third roommate, tried to warn Franklyn of Cooper’s worst tendencies early on.

Looking back, Franklyn said in the book that there were several warning signs that her relationship with Cooper could end badly. The two became what they call a “package deal” in all things: living together, dating, instigating bad choices with toxic boyfriends together, and working on a podcast together.

But one night, their third roommate and Cooper’s childhood best friend, Lauren, warned Franklyn that Cooper was using her to help elevate his own status.

“She uses you because you’re hot, for love, to go to parties and all that,” Lauren said, according to the book.

In the book, Franklyn wrote that Lauren thought it was particularly telling how Cooper essentially “threw” her aside once Franklyn entered the picture. “You showed up and it was like I never existed.”

Franklyn wanted to negotiate ownership of Call her daddy even before signing with Barstool

Cooper and Franklyn started Call her daddy in 2018 on an experimental basis with the company Podible. But by the time they taped their fourth episode, Cooper had a DM from Portnoy who wanted to sign the two to his network.

According to Franklyn, she and Cooper were excited about the contract Barstool Sports offered them. The three-year deal provided a clear salary structure: $75,000 for the first year, $85,000 for the second, and $100,000 for the third year, including a $2,500 bonus for every 10 percent increase in show downloads. The only part of the contract Franklyn had a problem with, she wrote, was ownership. As part of the deal, Barstool acquired the Call her daddy IP, including name and its social media accounts. Essentially, Barstool would own Call her daddy straight up, Franklyn and Cooper just acting like talent.

Franklyn discussed the deal with her mother, she wrote, who suggested she contact other media companies to see if anyone wanted to offer them more. But Franklyn said Cooper wanted to finish the paperwork quickly – so Franklyn signed on the dotted line.

Cooper allegedly tried to get Franklyn fired – then used a rough night at a Christmas party at Barstool to negotiate a secret raise.

In Daddy issuesFranklyn wrote that “insane anxiety” at a Barstool Christmas party led to an intense fight with Cooper. During the party, Franklyn remembers feeling extremely uncomfortable around her co-workers, which led her to drink heavily.

“As soon as I wake up the next morning, the worst feeling comes over me. I have no idea how I got home. The only thing I know for sure is my fear,” Franklyn wrote. “Every part of my body knows I did something very wrong.”

When Franklyn tried to talk about that evening with Cooper, it was clear that she was angry with her. After instigating her, Cooper told her she was “rude” and “aggressive” at the party — enough that Portnoy wanted to fire her. When Franklyn desperately tried to apologize and offered to speak directly to Portnoy to try to rectify the situation, Cooper instead allegedly encouraged her to see a psychiatrist recommended by her family. At the doctor’s suggestion, Franklyn began taking naltrexone, a medication used to combat alcohol and opioid addiction.

But when Franklyn finally tried to discuss the evening with Portnoy and the Barstool management team, no one seemed as concerned as Cooper had suggested, Franklyn wrote.

Later, Franklyn found out that Cooper had gone straight to Portnoy after the party and tried to get Franklyn fired. When that didn’t work, she refused to continue the series without a raise.

“(Cooper) was like, ‘If I’m going to put up with her, I need more money,'” Cooper’s friend and former podcast employee Muji allegedly told Franklin. “So she got the raise.”

Franklyn and Cooper asked Barstool for $1 million a year in new contract

In 2020, although their three-year tenure was not yet up, Cooper and Franklyn pushed to renegotiate their contract early when it became clear that the podcast was not only one of the most financially successful shows on the network, but also in the podcast industry as a whole. Their legal team projected that they would have made $11 million from the show alone, not even including merchandise sales. Their contracts at the time meant they received constant $2,500 bonuses for their growing downloads. But they felt their annual revenue didn’t reflect their worth, especially since the deal with Barstool Sports prevented them from pursuing other lucrative opportunities, like a joint book deal, alcohol sponsorships, new social media accounts or a podcast tour.

They decided to email Barstool with their new contract proposal. In addition to their desire to host live events and drinking partnerships, they also asked for more money – a lot more money.

“50/50 sharing of all revenues from Barstool’s operation of the property (i.e., advertisers, sponsors, merchandise, etc.),” they wrote, and a “minimum guarantee – $1 million each, per year.”

During Barstool Sports negotiations, Cooper and Franklyn discussed starting over with a new show called The Fathers.

The heart of the debate has always been the intellectual property of Call her daddy. Barstool Sports owned the show and its archives, which meant that if a…