Call her candid: Sofia Franklyn’s memoir details Alex Cooper fallout

Sofia Franklyn; Alex Cooper.FilmMagic; GC Images via GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleNov. 10, 2026, 3:43 PM ESTBy Saba HamedyThe “Daddy Gang” is finally getting to hear from the co-“founding father” of “Call Her Daddy.”

Sofia Franklyn, who co-created the famous podcast with Alex Cooper, on Tuesday released her memoir, “Daddy Issues,” in which she details her falling-out with her now ex-friend.

The duo shot to viral fame in 2018, when the podcast was still under Barstool Sports. It became known for candid conversations about commonly taboo topics for women to discuss publicly, including raunchy sex stories.

But the two professionally split up in 2020, news that initially shocked their listeners. Cooper went on to host the podcast solo, eventually moving it to Spotify and now SiriusXM in lucrative deals that helped propel her to mainstream success.

Meanwhile, Franklyn, who is an influencer with over 619,000 Instagram followers, launched her own podcast titled “Sofia with an F.”

Over the years, rumors had circulated about what exactly happened between Franklyn and Cooper. Here are some of the biggest claims in Franklyn’s 240-page book.

Franklyn writes about struggling to find a clear path as she was growing up in Utah with a single mom. She was arrested three times: once for using a fake ID and twice for underage drinking. Eventually, she left to start anew in New York City, largely to escape an abusive relationship.

But her early days in the city were far from ideal. She lived with her aunt and was working at Morgan Stanley in a job under a toxic boss who she claims harassed her regularly. She eventually moved into her own place, which she could barely afford, and found herself feeling extremely lonely.

A random girl Franklyn befriended in a ride-share connected her to Cooper and her childhood friend Lauren, who were looking for a third roommate.

Cooper and Franklyn ended up becoming inseparable, with Lauren largely out of the picture as she spent much of her time with her boyfriend. But one night, Franklyn writes, she and Lauren shared a rare evening in the apartment alone together.

That’s when Lauren asked Franklyn whether she thought it was weird that Cooper had “tossed” her aside.

“You showed up and it was like I never existed,” Franklyn said Lauren told her, which prompted Franklyn to apologize.

Lauren also told Franklyn that Cooper “uses you because you’re hot, to like, go to parties and stuff.”

At the time, Franklyn wrote, she felt defensive of her friendship with Cooper and did not think of Cooper as “using” her.

But later, another close friend of Cooper’s from childhood also seemed to warn her that Cooper was not going to stick with her.

Muji, known to early “Call Her Daddy” listeners as “Milfhunter,” worked on the podcast with the duo. He told Franklyn that Cooper “doesn’t have friends. I’ve watched it happen since high school.”

When Cooper abruptly fired Muji, Franklyn said, he told her: “She’s gonna f--- you.”

Cooper and Franklyn’s stars rose quickly at Barstool as the two took creative control of their show with company founder Dave Portnoy’s blessing.

But Franklyn started to feel things change after the Barstool holiday party. That night, she felt “insane anxiety,” drank excessively and fought with Cooper.

An angry Cooper told Franklyn she was “rude” and “aggressive” toward her at the party and that everyone, including Portnoy, had noticed and wanted to fire her.

Franklyn says she wanted to apologize to Portnoy for her behavior but was told not to by Cooper. When she finally did say something, Portnoy appeared to dismiss it, saying that “the girls got in a fight.”

Dave Portnoy at the Barstool Invitational in Chicago on Nov. 8, 2023 Michael Hickey / Getty ImagesIt wasn’t until later, Franklyn writes, that she learned Cooper had used the party as a way to negotiate a raise for herself.

Muji purportedly told her that Cooper said, “If I have to put up with her, I need more money.” She got the raise: $20,000 more than Franklyn every year.

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Franklyn writes that in 2020, when the duo were negotiating their new contract together, they sent Barstool an email with a new proposal asking for a “50/50 split of all revenue derived from Barstool’s exploitation of the property (i.e., advertisers, sponsors, merch, etc.)” and a “minimum guarantee — $1M each, per year.”

The negotiations centered on the intellectual property for “Call Her Daddy,” which Barstool Sports owned and could technically continue without Franklyn or Cooper attached.

Amid their talks with Barstool, Franklyn said, she and Cooper agreed their goal was to stay together. They even came up with a spinoff podcast in case the negotiations fell through, titling it “The Fathers.”

“We’re being corny as s---, but it’s because we’re both blissed out on the plan and our future — we don’t know how Barstool will respond, but we know that staying together is more important than losing the IP, or whatever they may threaten. What is the name without us?”

But in the end, Franklyn was ousted as co-host. Portnoy called Franklyn to tell her that Cooper had met with him separately and proposed going on without her.

“She came to me with a plan, and I needed an episode. There’s no clear favorite,” he told her, according to Franklyn’s memoir. “You could always have your own show, and we promote the s--- out of it like we did with Call Her Daddy. I think it would be huge.”

Portnoy also said Cooper had hired her own lawyer and claimed that Franklyn had been “the one that’s been dragging this on, and she’s been ready to sign this thing.”

Franklyn claims Cooper subsequently locked her out of their shared social accounts and posted a 52-minute YouTube breakup video called “The Truth about Call Her Daddy” in which she described Franklyn as a “liability.” Six years later, the video is still up, and it has amassed 4.6 million views.

Representatives for Portnoy and Cooper did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

The book opens with a scene in which Franklyn’s book agent calls her to say she had received an angry call from Matt Kaplan.

Kaplan, a Hollywood producer, married Cooper in 2024. The couple co-founded the Unwell Network, a subsidiary of the media company Trending.

Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan at Netflix's "XO, Kitty" Los Angeles premiere on May 11, 2023.Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images for Netflix fileFranklyn writes that her agent told her Kaplan said Cooper would sue.

Representatives from Unwell told The New York Times that Kaplan “never discussed the book’s claims or any intent to sue the author with Verve.”

A representative for Kaplan did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Saba HamedySaba Hamedy is the trends and culture editor for NBC News.