EXCLUSIVE: Dave Portnoy Admits Alex Cooper Was Earning Just $75K a Year at Barstool Sports After Launching 'Call Her Daddy' Podcast — Years Before She Signed Massive $125Million Deal
Dave Portnoy has revealed how Alex Cooper's salary drama went down.
July 6 2026, Published 7:20 p.m. ET
Dave Portnoy is pulling back the curtain on the early days of Call Her Daddy, revealing Alex Cooper successfully negotiated a 100 percent pay raise just three months after signing her first Barstool contract – years before landing her reported $125million SiriusXM deal, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In his newly released memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, the Barstool founder recalled signing Cooper to a three-year contract worth $75,000 annually before the hit podcast launched in October 2018.
'Call Me Daddy' Overnight Success
Portnoy pulled back the veil on his working relationship with Cooper in his memoir.
According to Portnoy, Call Her Daddy quickly became an overnight success, skyrocketing to the top of Apple's podcast charts and attracting a devoted fan base almost immediately.
"We had caught lightning in a bottle," he writes, recalling how the show's explosive popularity generated nonstop conversation and made Cooper and co-host Sofia Franklyn two of the company’s fastest-rising personalities.
Despite the podcast’s early success, Cooper approached Portnoy just a few months later to discuss her compensation.
"In December, Alex came to me to ask for a raise," Portnoy claims in his book.
Alex Cooper to Dave Portnoy: 'I Need A Raise'
'It made sense to me, so I quickly agreed and bumped her up to $150,000,' Portnoy claims of his salary negotiation with Cooper.
According to Portnoy, Cooper argued she had taken on substantially more responsibility than originally anticipated, explaining that she continued editing the podcast herself while also managing the Call Her Daddy social media accounts.
"She explained that due to her greater work deliverables for the podcast, she still cut and edited the show herself and ran the Call Her Daddy social accounts, she deserved a raise," he claims. Portnoy said he agreed with Cooper’s reasoning.
"It made sense to me, so I quickly agreed and bumped her up to $150,000," he writes, noting the increase amounted to "a 100 percent raise just three months into her contract."
From $75K to $90K
Portnoy also gave Cooper's co-host at the time a big raise.
Meanwhile, Portnoy revealed Franklyn received a raise as well, though she never requested one. "We also proactively decided to bump Sofia from $75K to $90K without her asking," he writes.
Looking back, Portnoy acknowledged the $60,000 difference between the pair’s salaries would later become "a major source of contention," though he said he saw no issue with the arrangement at the time.
"From where I sat, Alex was the breadwinner on the podcast. It was her show. Her idea," Portnoy explains.
Portnoy explained he negotiated the original deal directly with Cooper and believed she was doing "the lion’s share of the work," noting he had not even met Franklyn before she joined the company.
Contract Disputes and Fall Outs
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'Alex was the breadwinner on the podcast,' Portnoy writes.
He compared the situation to a band, writing that "the lead singer doesn’t get the same paycheck as the backup vocals."
Today, Cooper has become one of the biggest names in podcasting after signing a reported three-year, $125million deal with SiriusXM in 2024.
Portnoy's latest revelations offer a behind-the-scenes look at the business decisions that helped shape Call Her Daddy in its earliest days — while also foreshadowing the contract disputes and fallout that would eventually fracture one of podcasting's most successful partnerships.
