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Alex Cooper is used to harvesting intimate stories out of her guests on “Call Her Daddy” but the podcaster is finally in the hot seat herself in a new documentary that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival this week. The two-part doc is now available to stream on Hulu, currently offering a free trial.
Directed by Ry Russo-Young, the series offers a layered portrait of Cooper—tracing her journey from a bullied middle-schooler in Pennsylvania to a Division I soccer player at Boston University, and ultimately to the helm of a transformative $125-million podcasting empire
Childhood home-video clips, candid footage from her 2023 “Unwell” tour and intimate scenes from her April 2024 wedding to film producer Matt Kaplan bring viewers closer than ever to the public figure known as “Daddy Gang’s” fearless leader
The documentary is not without its emotional core. In part one, Cooper bravely reveals a deeply traumatic chapter from her time on the Boston University soccer team, accusing her former coach, Nancy Feldman, of prolonged sexual harassment and alleging that university officials failed to act on her complaints. Clips show Cooper returning to the campus soccer field, visibly retraumatized, as she recounts the experience she says robbed her of her identity and her sport
“Every time I stepped back on that field, I felt so small,” Cooper shared during a post-screening Q&A at Tribeca Film Festival this week.
She and her parents documented the harassment in writing and even confronted the university’s athletic department—only to be met with silence. That decision ultimately led Cooper to leave the team before her senior year and sparked a desire to “bulldoze through every f—— door” for survivors like herself
Beyond the trauma, “Call Her Alex” examines Cooper’s savvy business mindset. The doc tracks her pivot from steamy sex podcasts to a mainstream media empire, culminating in major deals with SiriusXM and the launch of Unwell Network and Unwell Hydration.
However, some critics argue that the series favors narrative polish over raw honesty. “While ‘Call Her Alex’ ties all the threads to Cooper’s story in a neat bow,” Variety TV critic Aramide Tinubu writes in here review, “the woman and the brand she’s built have already usurped this simplistic tale.”
Stream “Call Her Daddy” below: