If you have spent any time on the internet this past week, you’ve probably come across the Alex Cooper vs. Alix Earle feud.
Over the past few days, the two blonde social media personalities have been making headlines after a back-and-forth of interactions and subtweets, seemingly calling each other out and taking jabs at each other, leaving half the internet enthralled and the other half confused.
For the people who are only just realizing these are two different people because of the drama, here’s a quick refresher before we get fully into it.
Who is Alex Cooper?
Alex Cooper is a 31-year-old internet personality, best known as the host of the Call Her Daddy podcast, which has featured guests ranging from Kim Kardashian, Chappell Roan, Hailey Bieber, and Millie Bobby Brown to BLACKPINK’s Rosé, Sarah J. Maas, and Michelle Obama. You might also have recently seen Cooper on the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, where she conducted an interview with Miley Cyrus.
Cooper owns Unwell, which produces her own podcast as well as Owen Thiele’s In Your Dreams and Madeline Argy’s Pretty Lonesome, among others. Unwell is a subsidiary of Trending, a media company she and her husband Matt Kaplan—a producer of Netflix’s XO, Kitty and the To All the Boys film franchise—set up in 2023.
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Who is Alix Earle?
Alix Earle is a 25-year-old internet personality. She was first known for her GRWM videos on TikTok and has since appeared on season 34 of Dancing With the Stars, where she placed second behind winner Robert Irwin, earning support from the likes of Lady Gaga. Earle also gained attention for her Hot Mess podcast.
In 2026, Earle announced that she’s working on a Netflix reality TV show about her family, set to debut this year, and has also launched a new YouTube interview series called Get Real With Me, where she has featured Jake Shane, Stassi Schroeder, and Symone.
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Okay, now that that’s settled, the real questions are: Why are these two beefing, and why do we even care? Well, your guess is as good as everyone else’s, but the drama has taken up so much space in social media that it’s hard to ignore. While new developments have put it back at the forefront again, with others now being roped into the situation, it actually goes back quite a while.
Below, find the full timeline of the Alex Cooper vs. Alix Earle feud in detail to help you unpack the drama. Let’s get into it.
August 2023: Alex Cooper and Alix Earle first partner up
The first semblance of a relationship between Alex Cooper and Alix Earle dates back to the summer of 2023, when Cooper launched the Unwell Network. In early August, the network’s official Instagram page posted a collaboration post with Earle featuring an image of the two social media stars in celebration mode. “2 blondes walk into a boardroom… @alix_earle 🤝 @alexandracooper the world is not ready!!!” the caption for the post reads.
That was the announcement that Cooper had officially signed on Earle to “develop a variety of multiplatform concepts and projects,” per a statement secured by Variety. Earle was the second talent announced as joining Cooper's company.
“Alix Earle and Madeline Argy both have a unique presence that captivates an audience, but I love how they approach content in very different ways… I feel honored to be at a place in my career where I can pass along knowledge and advice for a new generation of creators to flourish,” Cooper said at the time.
In September 2023, Earle’s podcast, Hot Mess, officially premiered under Unwell.
February 2025: Tensions speculation arises, and Alex Cooper drops Alix Earle
Rumors of tensions between Earle and Cooper first arose in early February 2025 after fans noticed the former did not attend the Unwell Super Bowl party in New Orleans despite being in town and a part of the network. Before the end of the month, Variety reported that Unwell had dropped Hot Mess. The report cited unnamed sources as saying Unwell Network had “renounced all rights” to the podcast so “Earle can freely explore future opportunities.”
Earle briefly addressed the “chatter” about being dropped in a TikTok video, where she said: “I also have no idea what’s going on.”
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March 2025: Alix Earle addresses leaving Alex Cooper's Unwell for the first time
A month after news that Unwell was dropping Hot Mess broke, Earle took to TikTok to announce that the podcast was on hiatus. “I have to put a pause on podcasting right now for the foreseeable future. I don’t really want to get into the details of it all, and I kind of can’t get into the details of it all right now, but I’ve loved it so, so much, and I’m really proud of what I built with the podcast,” she said. In the video, she announced that she would be pivoting to vlogging for the time being.
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After Earle’s video, speculation began among fans, and Cooper took to her own TikTok to say that Earle’s decision not to continue podcasting was not because of Unwell. “I see ur comments. Alix not being able to podcast has nothing to do with Unwell. Idk why she can’t/what’s going on. Unwell gave her everything back she owns her IP,” her photo post reads.
May 2025: Alix Earle says she wants to bring back Hot Mess
Earle spoke to WSJ Magazine about her departure from Unwell and bringing back Hot Mess, saying that it “was, behind the scenes, a little bit of a hot mess.” She added, “We have plans to bring things back, elevate things. It might look a little different, but I’m excited to see what we do with it.” Earle’s father, Thomas “T.J.” Earle, who works as her manager, refused to elaborate on the topic, saying Earle had chosen not to.
August 2025: Alix Earle hints at drama with Alex Cooper in a TikTok comment
In August, Earle posted a TikTok video saying, “My Co–Star told me that I can start sh*t today.” She added, “I mean, is this my time that I’ve been waiting for to go? It’s like, I have so much information. We could go.”
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In the comments section, someone wrote, “yes tell us what happened with alex cooper thank you,” to which Earle replied, “how much time do you have.”
October 2025: Fans think Alex Cooper shaded Alix Earle
Fans think Cooper seemingly referenced Earle’s TikTok comment from August in an Instagram post promoting an Unwell Vegas event. “How much time do you have? Cause we could go all night😉,” the caption for the post starts. The video was set to “Circus” by Britney Spears, which Earle had danced to the month before on Dancing With the Stars.
April 2026: The full-blown Alex Cooper vs. Alix Earle feud explodes
In April, new life was breathed into the feud when fans noticed Earle had reposted a TikTok video criticizing Cooper by user TheBravoMom.
In the video, which is still in Earle’s reposts, TheBravoMom says: “[Cooper is] so awful and I wish that more women…would stop making [Call Her Daddy] their first stop after something happens in their lives because she is profiting off of women’s heartaches and failures.”
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Cooper seemingly reacted to Earle’s repost by posting a video on her TikTok account, tagging Earle in the caption. “I don’t usually address this kind of stuff because it feels like a waste of time, and honestly, it’s embarrassing to participate in this, but I am obviously seeing the videos, I’m getting tagged, I see the DMs, I see the comments, so at this point it just feels long overdue,” Cooper prefaced her video. "Alix Earle, hey girl, the passive-aggressive reposts and the likes and commenting on things. I got to call you out here. You're going to need to get specific and just say what you got to say about me. There's no NDA, no one is stopping you. Stop hiding behind other people and just say it yourself."
"What's the beef?" Cooper continued. "'Cause I'm really tired of waking up and seeing you using this fake drama to distract from other sh*t going online for you. Not interested. I know what happened, and so do you. So talk. Unless the fake narrative that you're creating happens to be way more interesting than the truth. I have nothing to hide when it comes to you and me. So unless you actually have something to say, I’m out. This is over.”
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Earle also reposted Cooper’s video and commented on the video, writing “Okay on it!!”
Earle has not posted a video on the drama per se, but after Cooper’s callout, she did share a TikTok of herself reacting to supposedly watching the video for the first time the morning after Coachella. In the video, we see Earle’s friends waking her up to show her the TikTok. “Wait, that just literally made my whole day,” an amused-looking Earle can be heard saying in the clip.
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Shortly after the beef erupted, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, whose company previously owned Call Her Daddy, commented on Cooper and the feud in an episode of the Chicks in the Office podcast. In the episode, Portnoy claimed Cooper and Earle have “a ton of crossover” in their professional careers. He also speculated that the beef could stem from “contract stuff.” Later on, he said Alex Cooper “is a savage, and I don't mean that negatively.”
Portnoy also addressed the feud on his Instagram, where he claimed he asked fellow content creator Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, who works with him under Barstool on the podcast Plan Bri, about the situation, and she reportedly said it all goes back to “brand deals and taking deals from each other.”
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On April 15, Cooper roped LaPaglia into the feud, posting a series of alleged DM exchanges to her Instagram Stories, alongside several statements featuring white text on black backgrounds.
“This girl on girl sh*t needs to stop. While Alix tries to get her story together, let me address Brianna Chickenfry who is adding onto the fake narrative and dog pile,” Cooper wrote on her stories. “Brianna, you coming online saying l'm a mean girl, that l'm going to get destroyed, in peoples comments saying I hate Alex Cooper.... Here are the facts. I have never met you in my life. The only communication we have ever had together is through dm.”
Cooper went on to share a handful of screenshots between them, some lightheartedly talking about Portnoy’s attempts at “starting drama” between them on Bartstool’s BFFs podcast. In another statement, Cooper also referenced LaPaglia’s falling out with Grace O'Malley and the latter’s signing to Unwell, and LaPaglia’s public breakup from country singer Zach Bryan.
Cooper wrote: “I never invited you on Call Her Daddy. Back during the Zach Bryan situation, I sent you a message of support. Then, you stopped podcasting with plan Bri and as we all know Grace no longer had a show. As a business decision, Unwell then reached out and offered Grace a podcast. We never spoke negatively of you. Nothing negative happened during that time between Unwell, myself or you. So speaking of mean girls... I have never met you in my life. What I just showed is the only interaction we've ever had. And you hate me? Wow. Please go back and read the dms. That has never been the nature of our relationship. Now back to Alix. And no this is not a pr stunt.”
In a follow-up statement, Cooper added, “Also Correction—I was in her presence once, didn't remember back in 2021 on bffs.”
After Cooper called her out, LaPaglia took to her TikTok to post her own video on the situation. “Okay, Alex Cooper just [posted on Instagram Stories] about me saying that she’s not a mean girl because we had nice DMs before I found out everything about this girl,” she said, adding that the Alex vs. Alix feud was definitely not a PR stunt.
“I work at Barstool, so Dave [Portnoy] introduced me to Alex Cooper. I was a fan of Alex Cooper before I knew the wrath of f*cking Alex Cooper and what she does to people and how she treats people. I’m friends with Alix Earle. Alix Earle told me everything that transpired between those two two years ago at the Super Bowl; she told me everything. It didn’t happen between them at the Super Bowl, but that’s when she told me everything,” she said, adding that “it’s not [her] story to tell” so she hadn’t told it.
“From what Alix Earle told me, Alex Cooper is a very, very mean person,” LaPaglia continued. “Or maybe, when Dave called me, when Alex signed Grace to Unwell, and she called Dave and said, ‘I don’t give a f*ck about Grace. I don’t give a f*ck about Brianna. All I care about is making money.’ Yeah, maybe my f*cking narrative switched on you after I found things out about you. I used to be a fan, clearly I’m not anymore.”
LaPaglia ended her video saying she’s “patiently sitting here and waiting for Alix Earle to come and say her side of the story,” and called Cooper’s Instagram stories “mean girl 101.”
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After posting the video, LaPaglia took to her Instagram Stories to upload a selfie, writing, “And to think I ended up in the middle of this all because of dementia Dave,” referring to Portnoy.
Portnoy has also continued to address the feud on his accounts, posting multiple videos about it. He even posted a video reacting to LaPaglia's video, in which he included an alleged iMessage exchange with her about both of them being “in” the tea. In the exchange, Portnoy says he “knocked” LaPaglia's tea over “by accident.”
Teen Vogue has reached out to Alix Earle’s and Alex Cooper’s reps for comments. This story will be updated if Earle posts her side of the story.
