HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Gen Z’s podcast queen breaks her silence on that Kamala Harris interview, ditching Spotify, coming for Joe Rogan, oral sex in her Olympics coverage and the surprising benefits of being chronically online.
When the Kamala Harris’ campaign recently announced the candidate was sitting down for a slew of. new interviews, media headlines focused on the usual legacy outlets: 60 Minutes, Stephen Colbert, Howard Stern. Yet it was Harris’ sitdown with Alex Cooper which resulted in a flood of social media clips going viral. Cooper, whose Call Her Daddy podcast has evolved from a salacious sex and relationships show to a celebrity confessional hot spot in a few short years.
Alex Cooper knew she was taking a huge risk, but it was hardly the first time.
Since launching her megahit podcast, Call Her Daddy, six years ago, Cooper engineered her meteoric rise with a series of strategic moves — jumping ship from Barstool Sports to Spotify in 2019 (for $60 million) and then again to SiriusXM this year (for $125 million), becoming the most popular (and highest-paid) female podcaster in the world. Along the way, she’s evolved from presenting a bubbly character known for her salacious banter about sex and relationships into a media powerhouse who scores buzzy celebrity interviews and leads candid discussions centering on women’s issues.
Then Kamala Harris’ campaign called.
At first, Cooper was reluctant to interview the vice president, long having tried to project neutrality to her loyal young female listeners, known as the “Daddy Gang.” “Politics is something I’ve been very in-between on, and I’m aware people come to my show for reprieve and relief from the day-to-day, and I don’t want to use my platform as a campaign tool,” Cooper says. “[But] her team had reached out multiple times to make it happen, and it finally felt like the time was right. I was looking forward to a conversation surrounding women’s rights.”
For their sit-down in Washington, Cooper wore one of her trademark purple hoodies along with black stiletto heels — a combination of soft and sharp, just like her question list, which stuck to topics she frequently covers on her show (“I’m probably not the one to be having the fracking conversation,” she admits). Still, Cooper threw an occasional fastball (“Why should we trust you?” she asked Harris). The episode received backlash from the MAGA crowd (despite Cooper offering to give equal time to Donald Trump, who declined) and perhaps wasn’t a feet-to-the-fire grilling, but their chat didn’t avoid substance — covering topics like abortion and sexual violence. And suddenly, Call Her Daddy was being name-checked alongside Harris’ other stops at household-name legacy media outlets like 60 Minutes and The View and surged to No. 2 on the podcast charts behind her biggest rival, Joe Rogan. Perhaps coincidentally, Rogan is now in talks for a Harris interview as well.
During our 90-minute Zoom chat, Cooper — the Pennsylvania daughter of a TV sports producer and a psychologist — discussed her podcast rivals, best and worst interviews, that 2020 breakup with her former Call Her Daddy co-host Sofia Franklyn, her Unwell content creator network, torturous sleeping habits and the little-known benefits of being chronically online. “I want to be the biggest creator in the world,” she says.
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Let’s start with your new deal: What made leaving Spotify for SiriusXM the right decision?
I’m a very competitive person. I don’t just want to do one thing. Every year I’m trying to expand Call Her Daddy. Speaking to Sirius, it made a lot of sense because there’s going to be more than just the main show — there are more formats I’m hopefully announcing in a couple of months. Something they pitched is, “We want people to think of Alex Cooper when they think of SiriusXM,” which is exciting. Sirius had the most ability to let me branch out and try new things while still remaining true to my product.
Just once when talking to somebody after signing one of these, I want them to say, “Duh, it was the money.”
Don’t get me wrong, it is life-changing. You want to make money off the product that you’re spending so much time on. But I started making content when I was 5 years old. I wasn’t hoping for a paycheck. I just wanted my friends to feel something from the videos I was showing them. So I think it’s incredible that the money has come, but I chose Sirius because there is a lot of opportunity to go to different places and grow Call Her Daddy into something bigger. To see what they’ve done with Howard Stern is incredible.
Will you be going on Howard’s show now that you’re under the same roof?
Howard and I have to do something. I remember watching Private Parts in college and thinking this is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever watched. Yes, we need to do something.
I’ve seen stories refer to you as the “female Howard Stern” and wondered if you like or dislike that label.
Whenever you’re compared to someone who is a legend, you’re never going to be like, “Don’t call me that.” I’m honored to be in the same sentence. But I also think that what he’s done and what I have done are very, very different. If you want to compare the early days, where I was talking more about sex and relationships, I understand I was filling a void in the marketplace where there wasn’t another woman in that lane for women like he was for men.
What do you think of the rumors that Stern will finally retire when his current contract ends and that you will be taking his spot in the Sirius family as the candid celebrity interviewer?
I don’t think there’s ever any time that anyone is taking over for Howard.
