Dave Portnoy Admits He Torpedoed Call Her Daddy's Friendship

Dave Portnoy’s newly released memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, just pulled back the curtain on one of internet culture’s messiest rifts—and the revelation is absolutely shocking. The Barstool Sports founder didn’t just witness the implosion of Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn’s friendship; according to his own account, he engineered it.

Here’s where it gets wild. By 2019, Cooper and Franklyn were already growing restless with their Barstool contract for Call Her Daddy. The duo had signed a three-year deal in 2018 paying $75,000 the first year, $85,000 the second, and $100,000 the third—decent money for a podcast launch, but not enough to keep them happy forever. Behind the scenes, Franklyn’s then-boyfriend started shopping the show to other networks, and Portnoy caught wind of it.

In 2020, Portnoy called them in for what became known as the infamous rooftop meeting. He came with a serious offer: $500,000 upfront, 3.5 percent each of all merchandise sales, a reduction in contract time by six months, and—here’s the kicker—full ownership of their intellectual property once the deal ended. Cooper walked out ready to accept. Franklyn? Not so much. According to Portnoy, she apparently hated his guts, while he’d actually thought they had a solid relationship.

Then comes the part that changes everything. Portnoy admitted in his memoir that he leaked the contract drama to The New York Post. His reasoning? Let the chaos speak for itself. And it worked perfectly—Cooper and Franklyn each believed the other had leaked the story, severing their friendship completely. As Portnoy wrote,“The friendship, and the podcast as we knew it, would never exist again. They hated each other.”

Nearly six years later, the fallout has spawned documentaries and memoirs. Cooper released the Call Her Alex docuseries in June 2025, reflecting on how their relationship had fractured long before the contract battle. Franklyn announced her memoir, Daddy Issues, in February 2026, promising to tell her story“in my own words, on my own terms, and in the most radically honest way.”But the origin story—the deliberate orchestration of their split—that’s only now coming to light.

What’s most striking is how Portnoy frames it all. He’s seemingly proud of the move. He still maintains a close business relationship with Cooper and credits her with frequently mentioning Barstool’s role in launching her. As for Franklyn? He concluded his memoir with a shrug:“I have no f***ing idea what Sofia is doing.”That’s the real gut punch.