Once upon a time there were two blonde American influencers turned podcasters called Alex (okay, one is spelt Alix) who were once friends and are now allegedly foes. One Alex, Alex Cooper, is the host of Golden Globe-nominated podcast Call Her Daddy, who makes an annual salary of (at least) $20 million and is the second biggest podcaster in the world behind Joe Rogan. In fact, her most recent podcasting deal, with SiriusXM, was worth a whopping $125million. The other Alix, Alix Earle, is influencer megastar and founder of Reale Actives skincare, the host of chart-topping podcast Hot Mess and has an estimated net worth of $20 million.
After months of rumours about a rift between the pair, on 14 April Earle reposted a video on TikTok from another influencer calling Cooper an ‘ambulance chaser’ – essentially, accusing her of exploiting women after trauma by inviting them on her podcast to discuss whatever incident was unfolding.
In response, Cooper uploaded a video to TikTok calling Alix out for reposting the video, accusing her of ‘passive aggressively’ confirming rumours of a feud between the pair without ever addressing it publicly. ‘Stop hiding behind other people and just say it yourself, what’s the beef?’ she asked. ‘I’m really tired of you using this fake drama to distract from other shit going online for you. I know what happened and so do, so talk.’
@fathercooper @Alix Earle ♬ original sound – Alexandra Cooper
In response, Earle commented on Cooper’s video saying ‘On it!’ and later posted a video of two of her friends waking her up to show her Cooper’s video. ‘Is it funny?’ the podcaster then asks her friend, who replies, ‘No.’ You can then hear Cooper’s original audio where she says, ‘say it herself – what’s the beef?’ and Earle then smiles and says ‘okay’ before laughing. After Cooper’s video finished playing Earle said, ‘Wait, that just literally made my whole day.’
The caption for the TikTok was suitably cryptic: ‘If you’re wondering, this is how I was woken up in the morning after Coachella.’
Unfortunately, the clip has done little to answer our original question: what happened? As one fan commented: ‘ALIX GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT.’ And she replied ‘on it’ with a heart emoji.
In fact, many are now waiting on tenterhooks for Earle to post her response video detailing where the alleged fallout started and why its gone on this long. With other influencers now chiming in online, accusations are spreading life wildfire.
But where did this all actually start? Let’s go back to the beginning. In September 2023, Cooper left Barstool, the company that previously promoted and owned the IP of her podcast Call Her Daddy, and started her own management company called The Unwell Network to partner with Spotify’s enterprise platform, Megaphone. Alongside supporting her own award-winning podcast, Cooper signed two popular TikTok stars, Earle and Madeline Argy, and hosted their respective podcasts Hot Mess and Pretty Lonesome.
However, in March last year, Hot Mess severed ties with Unwell and the podcast went on hiatus. After much chatter online, Cooper addressed the news on TikTok writing, ‘Alix not being able to podcast has nothing to do with Unwell. Idk why she can’t/ what’s going on/ Unwell gave her everything back she owns her IP.’
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal two months later, Earle said her relationship with Unwell was ‘a little bit of a hot mess […] behind the scenes’. Then in August, she seemed to hint that there was more to the story, particularly with regards to her relationship with Cooper in another TikTok post. When a fan asked her to spill the tea on ‘what happened with Alex Cooper’ Earle responded, ‘How much time do you have?’
Since then, there have been waves of speculation about what went down between the two creators, who were once friends and allies in the media landscape. It goes without saying that they do not follow one another on social media anymore, nor do they work together. So it’s obvious that something happened between them and it’s safe to assume it happened while Earle was contracted to Cooper’s company. However, for now at least, the rest remains a mystery.
We are hopeful looking ahead that the two media moguls will work things out. Earle, for her part, has a new reality show in the works with Netflix so perhaps Cooper could jump on to settle the score? Or would a sit down in their tracksuits in the Call Her Daddy studio be a better fit? Whatever they decide, the TikTok back and forth is surely bound to end soon because the internet is ready and waiting to hear both sides of the story – and for a new, harmonious one to begin.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA UK.
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