Alex Cooper Reshapes Unwell as Her Media Empire Expands

Alex Cooper is making major changes to the business behind her growing media empire.

The creator of the hit podcast “Call Her Daddy” has ended her relationship with talent agency UTA as she looks to expand Unwell, the production and media company she founded with her husband, Matt Kaplan. The move comes as Cooper increasingly focuses on projects beyond podcasting, including television, film, live events and brand work.

Unwell confirmed that its relationship with UTA ended on July 27. Cooper is reportedly considering a move to CAA, according to a person familiar with the matter.

UTA played an important role in Cooper’s rise. The agency helped negotiate major opportunities, including Cooper’s interview work for Peacock during NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. But tensions reportedly grew over UTA’s continued relationships with influencers Alix Earle and Dave Portnoy, both of whom have had public conflicts with Cooper.

Earle previously hosted the Unwell-produced podcast “Hot Mess.” Cooper and Earle later ended their professional relationship, although Cooper remained with UTA for about another year. Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, has also been a longtime source of controversy for Cooper. In his memoir, he alleged that Cooper and her former “Call Her Daddy” co-host, Sofia Franklyn, planned to claim they had been harassed as a way to escape their contract with Barstool. Cooper has not accepted that account.

The changes at Unwell come as the company becomes much more ambitious. The business recently announced a major investment from Patrick Whitesell, the former executive chairman of Endeavor and a co-founder of WME. Whitesell’s investment firm, WTSL, has invested an undisclosed amount in Unwell at a valuation of $500 million.

Cooper and Kaplan, who initially funded the company themselves, still hold a majority stake.

Founded in 2023, Unwell says it has been profitable since its launch and views the new investment as growth capital. The company wants to build a business that reaches far beyond Cooper’s flagship podcast and connects with Gen Z women through entertainment, advertising and other media ventures.

Unwell has already begun expanding. It recently announced “Unwell Winter Games,” a reality competition featuring 16 contestants competing in mental and physical challenges at a luxury chalet in Park City, Utah. The company also hired marketing executive Joanne Bradford as president.

Another major project is “Icebreaker,” a Netflix series based on Hannah Grace’s novel. Unwell is serving as producer.

The company also plans to offer creative and other services to traditional media companies and advertisers. Cooper has said she believes Unwell’s brand and advertising business could eventually become as valuable as its podcasting operation, potentially as soon as next year.

The expansion follows a difficult period for the company. Two recent reports raised questions about the workplace culture at Unwell and the role of Kaplan, who is also a film producer.

A Bloomberg report in April described employees as unhappy with the workplace and said Kaplan had developed a reputation for frequently yelling at staff. A Vanity Fair investigation in June included allegations from a former Unwell freelancer who described Kaplan’s management style as extremely toxic. Other anonymous sources alleged that Kaplan had asked employees about their sex lives and commented on their appearance.

Kaplan and Unwell have faced criticism over the reports, while Cooper has pushed back against the allegations.

Speaking at Cannes Lions in June, Cooper said people should not believe everything they read online. She defended the company, saying many employees were happy to work there, and suggested that some of the criticism reflected the different standards women in the entertainment industry face.

Unwell has also recently closed another part of its business. The company ended its beverage venture, Unwell Beverage Co., which launched last year in partnership with Nestlé.

Taken together, the moves point to a significant shift in Cooper’s strategy. Rather than building Unwell solely around her own podcasting career, she appears to be turning it into a broader entertainment and media company.

The end of the UTA relationship is part of that larger restructuring. With Whitesell’s investment, new executives and a growing slate of television and entertainment projects, Cooper is betting that Unwell can become a much bigger business than the podcast that made her famous.