EXCLUSIVE: Dave Portnoy Claims Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn Demanded $1Million Salaries, IP Rights and Merchandise Revenue During 'Call Her Daddy' Contract War
Dave Portnoy claims Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn demanded $1million salaries, IP rights and merchandise revenue during their 'Call Her Daddy' contract negotiations with Barstool Sports.
July 7 2026, Published 6:22 p.m. ET
Dave Portnoy has exposed all the sweeping demands he claims Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn made as their relationship with Barstool Sports quickly unraveled.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Barstool founder details their contentious contract negotiations in his newly released memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, where he recounts what he says were the blockbuster demands presented after Call Her Daddy exploded into one of the company’s biggest successes.
BlockBuster Demands Revealed
According to Portnoy, Cooper and Franklyn sought a dramatically reworked agreement that included $1million annual salaries.
According to Portnoy, Cooper and Franklyn sought a dramatically reworked agreement that included $1million annual salaries, ownership of the Call Her Daddy intellectual property, the ability to independently sell advertising tied to the podcast and 90 percent of merchandise revenue.
Portnoy wrote the proposal would have fundamentally changed Barstool's role in the business despite the company continuing to provide production resources, office space, legal support, marketing and promotional efforts that helped build the brand.
Rather than rejecting the proposal outright, Portnoy said Barstool responded with what he described as the most generous offer he had ever extended to talent.
Barstool Agreed To Transfer Ownership
In the memoir, the company offered to increase both hosts’ salaries to $500,000 annually while shortening the remaining length of their contracts by six months.
In the memoir, he claimed the company offered to increase both hosts' salaries to $500,000 annually while shortening the remaining length of their contracts by six months.
Portnoy also claimed Barstool agreed to transfer ownership of the Call Her Daddy intellectual property to Cooper and Franklyn after one additional year if they fulfilled the revised agreement.
The proposal also would have allowed the pair to retain ownership of future merchandise revenue while Barstool maintained rights only to any alcohol brand launched under the podcast’s name.
Portnoy claims negotiations only became more contentious after the proposal failed to resolve the dispute.
The Pair Allegedly Stopped Releasing New Episodes
Portnoy also wrote the pair became increasingly absent from the Barstool office.
He claimed Cooper and Franklyn eventually stopped releasing new episodes of Call Her Daddy, leaving fans questioning the future of the chart-topping podcast as the contract battle played out behind the scenes.
Portnoy also wrote the pair became increasingly absent from the Barstool office during the standoff, claiming they largely distanced themselves from the company’s day-to-day culture.
According to the memoir, the situation frustrated other employees, who questioned why the podcast hosts appeared to operate under a different set of rules while negotiations dragged on.
Radar previously reported Portnoy alleged Franklyn's then-boyfriend, Peter "Suitman" Nelson, played a key role in steering negotiations after she and Cooper began seeking more lucrative terms.
Contract War Changed Podcasting Forever
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Portnoy has repeatedly portrayed Nelson as the "puppet master" behind the contract standoff.
Portnoy has repeatedly portrayed Nelson as the "puppet master" behind the contract standoff, accusing him of pushing the hosts toward a rival podcast deal rather than accepting Barstool's offer.
Ultimately, the negotiations collapsed, with Cooper later striking blockbuster podcast deals instead.
Throughout the memoir, Portnoy argues the failed negotiations became one of the defining business disputes in podcasting, transforming Call Her Daddy from one of Barstool’s biggest success stories into one of the industry’s most public contract battles.
