Alex Cooper has parted ways with United Talent Agency, the firm that guided her through the rise of “Call Her Daddy” and the launch of her media company Unwell. The podcast host is now weighing offers from rival shops, with reports pointing to talks with CAA about future representation.
The agency change follows a whirlwind stretch for Cooper’s business. Unwell recently landed its first outside investment, a deal with WTSL, the firm led by former Endeavor executive Patrick Whitesell, that values the company at $500 million. Cooper and her husband, Matt Kaplan, who self-funded the company, keep majority ownership. Whitesell praised the founders’ instincts for audience trends in a statement announcing the deal.
Founded in 2023, Unwell has grown well past its flagship podcast into live events, national tours, scripted microdramas and streaming projects, with credits on Hulu, Disney+ and Netflix. A person close to the company said leadership chose to revisit its representation as Unwell prepares a bigger expansion, funded by Whitesell’s capital, into consulting work for advertisers and other media companies.
The UTA exit lands roughly two months after Vanity Fair published an investigation citing 40 sources, 30 of them current or former Unwell staffers, describing a workplace marked by fear and volatility. One freelancer told the magazine Kaplan ran the most toxic environment they had ever seen, and other sources alleged he made derogatory comments toward employees and pressed them on personal matters. Attorneys for Cooper and Kaplan sent the outlet a sharply worded warning before the story ran.
Cooper addressed the claims directly in a sit-down interview with the Wall Street Journal, telling the paper that building a startup brings real growing pains and that she remains proud of what the company has become. She later told HuffPost that women in her field face steeper scrutiny than men, and elsewhere dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign.
Representatives for Cooper and UTA did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the split, and CAA declined to comment on the reported talks.
