Alex Cooper is leaving talent agency UTA, amid a busy week for the Call Her Daddy creator, according to sources familiar with the matter.
A source says Cooper is in conversations with other agencies, but nothing is yet signed.
The news comes after Cooper announced an investment on Aug. 12 from WTSL, the Silver Lake-backed firm led by Patrick Whitesell, that valued her Unwell media company at $500 million. The plan is to use the investment to grow the company, which includes a slate of podcasts, as well as live events and a film and TV production arm including through acquisition.
However, amid the planned expansion, a report in Bloomberg last week also said that Cooper’s branded beverage line, Unwell Beverage Co, is shutting down later this year. Cooper has also faced a number of negative headlines after Bloomberg and Vanity Fair both reported claims about staff turnover and uneasiness among the staff, particularly due to the behavior of Matt Kaplan, Cooper’s husband and the company’s co-founder, who is said to have yelled at and berated staff members.
Cooper remains one of the most popular podcast hosts thanks to the success of Call Her Daddy, but is now looking to leverage that into more with an expansion of her empire outside of podcasting, which may have prompted the move. A source familiar with the matter says Cooper’s team has spent the past several months planning out its future growth strategy, including representation, related to the funding.
UTA declined to comment on reports of Cooper departing. UTA’s Oren Rosenbaum negotiated a $125 million deal with SiriusXM in 2024 for Cooper.
The talent agency represents a number of top creators, including MrBeast, Charli D’Amelio and Alix Earle, who formerly worked with Cooper but left her network, causing speculation about a rift or possible feud between the two creators. While that has been raised as a possible reason for the departure, Earle and Cooper have both been at UTA for more than a year.
