What Happened to "Call Her Daddy"?
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If you listen to my Monday episodes of Ryan Bailey’s podcast “So Bad It’s Good,” you may have heard a little rant I went on about Alex Cooper, the host of sex/relationship/mental health/celebrity-interview/I-have-no-idea-how-to-describe-it podcast “Call Her Daddy.” I, in so few words, said that the podcast has fallen significantly since Cooper became the solo host, and the real talent behind the podcast was Sofia Franklyn. And… I stand by it! Here’s why.
What originally started as an ultra-raunchy and irreverent comedy show between Cooper and former cohost Franklyn has now become a mind-numbingly boring series of interviews with “celebrity” villains like Jamie-Lynn Spears, Colton Underwood, Christine Quinn, Spencer Pratt, and Nick Viall (aka, my arch nemesis).
Since the widely publicized “divorce” between Cooper and Franklyn—If you need a refresher, I have one word for you: Suitman—Cooper snagged a record-breaking $60 million deal with Spotify. But at the same time, her popularity among the podcast’s original fanbase appears to have plummeted, with fans decrying their former “single father” for her longtime internalized misogyny and apathy towards diversity. In one episode, Cooper said “Harvard doesn’t have hot girls” and the women who go there are “ratchet.”
After posting and quickly deleting a video of herself fully tongue-kissing her boyfriend’s dog, she responded to the backlash by saying whoever has a problem with it must’ve been molested as a child.
Cooper’s content skews towards fully perpetuates heteronormative stereotypes with very few LGBTQ+ or BIPOC guests. Most of the episodes now revolve around her personal-life updates.
While CHD is still charting and likely performing well, it certainly doesn’t have the relevancy or rabid fanbase it once did. And Spotify, with $60 million to recoup, seems to be doing whatever they can to promote the show, with profiles of Cooper in the LA Times, New York Times, and ads on every corner of the Spotify app. In her New York Times interview, Cooper gave this rambling, word-salad definition of feminism:
The problem is, CHD’s original success hinged on the “BFF” dynamic between the two former hosts. (Think: unscripted moments, inside jokes, and giggles). Now, Cooper simply banks on having good chemistry with whatever guest she chooses to have on any given week, to varying degrees of success, while occasionally sounding like she’s reading from a teleprompter.
“The podcast has no structure. No theme, no goal to achieve, no game that incorporates the Daddy Gang with the guest—it’s just lazy writing. This is where it’s evident what a difference Sofia makes in writing and planning. This podcast is failing,” reads one comment in the podcast’s dedicated subreddit.
Meanwhile, Franklyn—originally deemed the “loser” of the breakup while suffering a very public flagellation at the hands of Barstool founder Dave Portnoy—has since launched her own successful podcast that’s been steadily climbing the charts since its premiere in October 2020 called “Sofia With an F.” With topics ranging from surviving emotional abuse to dating experiences unique to the LGBTQ+ community, fans have been applauding her efforts to pivot towards more inclusive content.
I’d personally never listened to the original CHD, but I—after the internet-breaking drama that went down—started following Franklyn, listening to “Sofia With an F,” and fully understanding why the podcast was so successful in the first place. It was……. Rebekah Vardy because of Franklyn. She’s witty, genuinely hilarious, clever, and has legitimately interesting content. Cooper, on the other hand? I can’t say the same.
You know that common saying in ~show business~ that no one person is bigger than the production? Meaning, the show will always go on without you, no matter how “essential” you think you are? Here, it seems, the show can’t tactfully evolve without one of their major talents.
Cooper (and Portnoy) bet on the idea that the show is always bigger than the talent—but without Franklyn, the entire heart and soul of that show has changed, and not for the better.
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