Alex Cooper, host of the popular podcast Call Her Daddy, and her media empire is reportedly facing troubled times due ongoing internal divisions within her company.
A detailed report from Bloomberg revealed that Cooper’s business has been rocked by challenges in recent months, including “employee turnover, a sputtering slate of shows and discord between staff members and her husband and co-chief executive officer Matt Kaplan, according to people familiar with the company’s operations.”
In 2023, Cooper and Kaplan — a producer of over 50 films and TV shows, including Netflix Inc.’s To All the Boys franchise — co-founded Trending, an umbrella company housing the power couple’s growing business ventures. Initially, the portfolio included Unwell Network, Cooper’s burgeoning collection of lifestyle podcasts, and ACE Entertainment, Kaplan’s production company. The idea was to take Cooper’s audience of Gen Z women and speak directly to them, building content around their interests.
Cooper and Kaplan began hiring dozens of employees to staff their business as they expanded into live events, TV series, a creative agency and physical products. Many of the new recruits were young adults who knew Cooper’s show and were eager to be part of her company’s festive aura while working alongside a woman they admired.
Cooper and Kaplan often advertised themselves to potential employees as fostering a “work hard, play hard” environment while keeping the atmosphere “positive and safe.” Staff members told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that Cooper has little-to-no hand in daily operations, leaving those to her husband, who has reportedly earned a reputation for frequently yelling at staff members. Some said that his rage issues have become so problematic that they have threatened to quit.
On one project, the Unwell Winter Games, Kaplan reportedly threatened staffers with blacklisting them from Hollywood, causing one longtime crew member to break into tears. Some staffers filed a formal complaint and demanded that Kaplan adjust his behavior. The 2025 Hulu documentary Call Her Alex hinted at these issues.
“In the past year, several high-level executives have left Unwell, including the company’s head of brand marketing, head of the network — its second in three years — and chief growth officer,” noted Bloomberg. “Cooper has said Unwell employs around 100 people. On LinkedIn, at least 20 have marked themselves as leaving in 2025 and 2026.”
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