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Call us accurate. This weekend, The Post reported that the battle between Barstool Sports and the co-hosts of its raunchy “Call Her Daddy” podcast had become one between the women themselves. On Sunday night, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy took over the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and dropped a blockbuster episode where he confirmed The Post’s …
Call us accurate.
This weekend, The Post reported that the battle between Barstool Sports and the co-hosts of its raunchy “Call Her Daddy” podcast had become one between the women themselves.
On Sunday night, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy took over the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and dropped a blockbuster episode where he confirmed The Post’s reporting — laying bare the guts of the disagreement and revealing how he told co-host Alexandra Cooper via text message: “In my 17 years of doing this, I have never dealt with anyone as unprofessional and disloyal and greedy as [the two women].”
Cooper and co-host Sofia Franklyn haven’t recorded an episode since April. It’s since been revealed the two were trying to break their Barstool contract to take on television and book deals potentially worth millions.
The Barstool honcho recapped his entire relationship with the duo, saying he discovered them via Cooper’s Instagram and offered the women a three-year deal. Initially, the two didn’t want to give up their brand’s intellectual property, including the “Call Her Daddy” name. When they learned there was no deal without Barstool owning the brand, the women relented and signed the contract, which paid them around $70,000 annually each, plus bonuses.
The podcast was an “instant success” and bigger than Portnoy’s “wildest dreams,” and he gave them a raise six months into it. After the first year, Cooper, who edits the show, pulled in $506,000 and Franklyn received $461,000, he said.
“They went from unknown talent to each making close to half a million dollars a year,” Portnoy said, claiming that the women leaked to the press they were underpaid.
A few months ago, when the duo wanted to renegotiate their contracts, their lawyer sent Barstool a list of demands — including $1 million guaranteed, for each of them, according to Portnoy. They no longer wanted to be Barstool employees and they wanted 50 percent of all money earned from the brand, including merchandise and ads. And they wanted to own the brand.
“What did we get in return? Nothing,” said Portnoy, who cut off negotiations. “That is when they started … shopping ‘Call Her Daddy’ around, looking to go somewhere else [and] break their contract with us.”
He added: “Barstool’s stance was, if you guys take ‘Call Her Daddy’ and go somewhere else, we’re going to sue the f - - k out of you. Like, you’re under a three-year contract.”
Instead, Cooper and Franklyn stopped working completely. Portnoy said the company has been losing $100,000 for every missed episode. He offered them a deal that would guarantee $500,000 each, plus bonuses. It would also knock six months off the women’s contract and let them walk away at the end with their intellectual property. He estimated that the deal, which paid them both equally, would net millions.
“It was a no-brainer deal,” said Portnoy. He didn’t hear from the co-hosts or their lawyers for days, when Cooper reached out and said she wanted to accept the deal — but that Franklyn would never agree because she was allegedly being influenced by her boyfriend, HBO Sports executive Peter Nelson.
“I was starting to hear whispers, and [Cooper] confirmed it, and this is a big part of the story: [Franklyn’s] new boyfriend … Peter Nelson, HBO executive, probably greenlit a hit piece on me not too long ago, [came] into the mix … He was the one who brought in all these lawyers … he was openly shopping ‘Call Her Daddy,’ ” claimed Portnoy, referring to a 2019 episode of HBO’s “Real Sports.” That “hit piece” included allegations by women who claimed they had been harassed online — and that it was encouraged by Barstool — after voicing criticism of the brand.
A source close to Franklyn previously told The Post that she was willing to agree to Portnoy’s deal: “Sofia agreed to the financial terms of Barstool’s offer but hasn’t heard back from them. She wants to continue the podcast with her friend 50/50.”
Portnoy also claimed that Nelson was “acting almost as a manager” for the two women and helped them get an offer from podcast network Wondery. “They were going to call the podcast ‘The Fathers.’ ”
He added that Cooper wanted to return to the fold and negotiated a deal that would give her 75 percent of the brand, leaving a quarter for Barstool — and cutting out Franklyn completely.
Portnoy claimed he offered Franklyn her own show, but she declined. Cooper may yet return to take over the original show, but, he said, a lot is still up in the air.
“A part of me is like, ‘You know what? No amount of money is worth this. Let’s just get rid of them, keep the [intellectual property] and start this over again ourselves.’ ”
Cooper, Franklyn and Nelson did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment. Portnoy said only: “There’s nothing more to add. [My podcast episode] spoke for itself.”
