Barstool founder Dave Portnoy writes in his memoir that the hosts of Call Her Daddy allegedly plotted to claim sexual harassment as a pretext to break their contracts and move the show to another platform. Portnoy presents this claim as part of a broader account of the 2020 negotiations that led to a public split between the podcast and Barstool Sports.
This article summarizes the memoir passage, places it within the timeline of the podcast’s rise and split, and outlines legal and reputational implications while noting clearly that the claims described here are Portnoy’s allegations from his book and have not been independently verified for this report.
What Portnoy wrote in Cancel Me If You Can
In Cancel Me If You Can, Portnoy recounts tense discussions about ownership and control of Call Her Daddy. He says he warned the hosts he would sue if they moved the podcast before their contractual obligations ended. According to Portnoy, Alex Cooper told him she and Sofia Franklyn had a plan: to claim they were sexually harassed at Barstool so they could be released from their contract.
Portnoy quotes the alleged exchange and frames the alleged strategy as an intentional effort to escape contractual restraints. He calls the notion a “heavy accusation” and repeatedly frames these passages as his perspective and recollection of events.
Because these are claims from Portnoy’s memoir, this article treats them as allegations and does not present them as established facts. Portnoy also notes he has not been accused of improper workplace conduct in these accounts.
How Call Her Daddy split from Barstool
Call Her Daddy launched on Barstool Sports in 2018 and quickly built a large audience with frank conversations about sex, relationships and pop culture. Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn co-hosted the show and became prominent voices for a younger demographic.
Contract negotiations grew contentious by 2020. The dispute involved ownership of intellectual property, money and control of the brand. Reporting at the time described a public disagreement that unfolded across social media and interviews, culminating in the hosts leaving Barstool in separate arrangements.
Portnoy’s memoir adds his account of a planned tactic the hosts allegedly discussed if negotiations failed. Other contemporaneous reporting focused on the contract fight itself and the business terms at issue, rather than endorsing Portnoy’s specific allegation.
Call Her Daddy timeline
- 2018: Call Her Daddy launches on Barstool Sports and grows rapidly.
- 2019–early 2020: The show’s audience and commercial value increase, prompting negotiations over ownership and compensation.
- 2020: Contract talks become public. A split follows, with the hosts departing Barstool and pursuing separate deals.
- Aftermath: Alex Cooper ultimately retained Call Her Daddy’s IP and later signed a major distribution deal; Sofia Franklyn launched her own independent podcast, Sofia with an F.
Where Cooper and Franklyn went next
After the breakup, Alex Cooper retained the Call Her Daddy brand and later moved the show to Spotify under a reported multi-million-dollar arrangement. Media accounts have described the Spotify deal as large; those figures are reported by other outlets and are not independently verified in this article.
Sofia Franklyn launched her own program, Sofia with an F, pursuing an independent path. The two hosts have since followed separate careers and continued to build audiences outside of Barstool.
Legal and reputational stakes
The dispute Portnoy describes touches on three distinct risks: intellectual property, contract enforcement and public allegations of misconduct. Ownership of IP determines who can monetize and license a podcast. If hosts depart before contracts allow, companies may have legal grounds to sue; conversely, public allegations—whether true or not—can complicate enforcement and influence public opinion.
Portnoy warns that even an unproven harassment claim would be “a tough fight for us to win in the court of public opinion,” underscoring how allegations alone can affect advertisers, partners and listeners. That observation illustrates why parties involved in high-profile media disputes often consider both legal remedies and reputational strategies.
Because Portnoy’s version of events comes from his memoir, readers should understand the distinction between an allegation and an established fact. This report does not corroborate the allegation and relies on published passages of the memoir and prior reporting for context.
FAQ
What did Portnoy specifically allege about Call Her Daddy hosts?
He alleges in his memoir that Alex Cooper told him she and Sofia Franklyn had a plan to claim they were sexually harassed at Barstool as a way to break their contract and move the podcast to another network. This article presents that statement as Portnoy’s allegation.
Did Alex Cooper or Sofia Franklyn respond to the claim?
Contemporaneous reporting noted that Cooper and Franklyn did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This report summarizes the memoir and prior coverage and does not contain new statements from the hosts.
Was the reported Spotify deal verified here?
Reporting by other outlets described a lucrative Spotify contract for Alex Cooper after she retained Call Her Daddy’s IP. Those figures are reported elsewhere and are not independently verified in this piece.
Source and attribution
This article is based on passages published from Dave Portnoy’s memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, and reporting by Fox News and WSJ Magazine. The primary report summarized here was published by Fox News Digital: Fox News: Dave Portnoy claims ‘Call Her Daddy’ hosts planned false sexual harassment allegations to exit contracts. Reporting referenced contributions from David Rutz and a WSJ Magazine profile cited in the coverage.
All of the claims about planning to allege harassment are presented here as allegations sourced to Portnoy’s memoir and have not been independently confirmed by this outlet.
