Alex Cooper said she maintains a "great and complicated relationship" with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy during a recent interview with CNBC [1].
The comments come as Portnoy's recent memoir provides a detailed account of Cooper's departure from the media company, highlighting a public rift between the two figures.
Speaking with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, the "Call Her Daddy" host addressed the discrepancies between her memory of events and the narrative presented in the book [1]. Cooper did not provide a point-by-point rebuttal of the memoir's claims but acknowledged that perspectives differ [1].
"Dave's got his version and I've got my version," Cooper said [1].
Reports from Yahoo Entertainment suggest that Cooper has not explicitly refuted specific claims in the memoir, including assertions that hosts of "Call Her Daddy" planned to accuse Barstool of sexual harassment [2]. In other instances regarding the memoir's content, Cooper said, "That's not how I remember that at all" [2].
Despite the conflicting accounts of their professional split, Cooper indicated that there is no active animosity between her and the Barstool founder [1].
"We’re all good," Cooper said [1].
The relationship between Cooper and Portnoy was central to the early growth of "Call Her Daddy," which became one of the most successful podcasts in the U.S. before Cooper transitioned away from the Barstool platform.
“"Dave's got his version and I've got my version."”
The exchange highlights the tension between personal branding and corporate history in the creator economy. By acknowledging a 'complicated' relationship without fully litigating the memoir's claims, Cooper avoids a public legal or PR battle while maintaining her own narrative independence from her former employer.
