Alex Cooper seems intent on unraveling some of the current relationships that have helped underpin her production company, Unwell.
The star podcaster and media entrepreneur is poised to drop her current talent agency, UTA, according to three people familiar with the matter, as she focuses on a larger suite of business operations beyond the podcast for which she is best known, and is frustrated in part by its continuing relationships with Alix Earle and Dave Portnoy, two prominent influencers and podcasters who have feuded with her. UTA had been pressed to part ways with Earle, according to one of these people. Last week, Cooper shut down a beverage venture, Unwell Beverage Co., which was launched last year with Nestle SA as a partner, according to a report from Bloomberg.
UTA has helped Cooper build and scale her presence over the years, and has helped broker deals that had her host interviews for Peacock during NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. A person familiar with Unwell say the company has in recent months focused on ways to expand across podcasts, TV and film, live events and its creative agency work, among other operations. Unwell also plans to offer services to traditional media and advertising organizations. As the company devised its strategy, this person says, it believed a rethink of traditional talent representation was warranted.
UTA declined to make executives available for comment. She is said to be in discussions about working with CAA, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
A shift in representation would come after Unwell, which Cooper founded with her husband, Matt Kaplan, landed its first outside investor: Patrick Whitesell, co-founder of WME and former executive chairman of successor company Endeavor. Whitesell’s WTSL, an investment firm focused on media, entertainment and sports he launched after exiting Endeavor and WME last year, has invested an undisclosed sum in Unwell that values the business at $500 million, according to information released August 12 by Unwell. Cooper and Kaplan, who self-funded the company targeting Gen Z women audiences, retain a majority ownership stake. Formed in 2023, Unwell says it has been profitable from day one and sees the WTSL investment as growth capital. The entrepreneur believes the work Unwell does with brands could be worth as much as the podcasting business by next year.
Unwell said that in addition to the funding, WTSL would bring “deep strategic expertise, industry relationships and a proven track record of supporting some of the most innovative companies and storytellers in media,” including Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.
Whitesell’s funding followed a pair of recent exposés alleging behind-the-scenes chaos at Unwell. According to a Vanity Fair story in June, one Unwell freelancer alleged that Kaplan “creates the most toxic work environment that I’ve ever seen”; anonymous sources also said Kaplan had questioned employees about their sex lives and commented on their physical appearance. In April, Bloomberg reported that Kaplan “has earned a reputation for frequently yelling at staff members” and said Unwell’s employees were “looking for the exit.”
Cooper, in an interview at Cannes Lions this June with the Wall Street Journal, was asked about the allegations. “I will just kind of leave it at ‘Don’t believe everything that you read on the internet’ — but I think everyone knows that at this point,” she said. Cooper also said, “I think that we have done a really incredible job at Unwell, and I think if you walk the halls, there are so many people that are so happy to work at this company. … I think, unfortunately, being a woman in this industry is extremely difficult because you’re held to a completely different standard. Whether it’s a smear campaign being created for someone’s narrative, whatever it be.”
Earle, a podcaster and influencer, gained some her greatest fame while hosting the podcast “Hot Mess,” which was produced by Unwell. Still, Cooper stayed with UTA for a year after the pair ended their relationship. Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, alleged in a memoir that Cooper and her former co-host, Sofia Franklyn, planned to say they were harassed in order to get out of a previous contract with Barstool, which helped launch “Call Her Daddy.”
Todd Spangler contributed to this story.