Here’s an Explanation of the Call Her Daddy Drama that No One Asked for
When the CHD Drama started a couple of days ago, I went to my parents and three brothers to discuss it, and was shocked to learn that none of them have heard about the show, or cared to hear about some interesting drama. The only person who entertained my explanation was my immigrant father, and during my discussion with him I realized just how deep my understanding of this issue had become in the last few days as I had allowed it to consume all my free time. Here is the explanation I gave to him.
First, Call Her Daddy is a podcast created by Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn when they came up with the idea during a vacation in 2018. Only a month after the first episode aired, it was acquired by Barstool Sports, and the girls signed a three year long contract with Barstool.
The Contract.
The contract stated that the girls would start at a base salary of $75,000 a year with raises available for the next 2 years. The contract also stated that they could renegotiate their contract after each year. Looking at the amount of success the podcast had, many viewers believed that Barstool undervalued Alex and Sofia, but it is important to mention that when the contract was created and signed, CHD had no viewership and was built from nothing.
The Rooftop Meeting.
Then, following the release of a podcast on April 8th, the girls abruptly stopped posting, telling fans that they couldn’t legally speak on any issues yet. Dave Portnoy, the president and founder of Barstool Sports, released a statement in response bashing both girls for being greedy and unprofessional. He told fans that he had a “rooftop deal” with the girls he offered them $500,000 a year, along with bonuses and other perks. Barstool was livid because they lose $100,000 per missed episode. At the time, it seemed like both girls were greedy and cared more about money than the show.
“Suitman.”
However, we later find out that Alex was completely down to accept the terms of the offer, and that it was Sofia, on the advice of her boyfriend Peter Nelson (referred to as “Suitman”) who is a HBO Sports executive, who didn’t want to take the deal. Instead, they were shopping around with other networks to see if they could get a better deal. Ultimately, the consensus among fans is that Alex is choosing her boyfriend over the show, because why else would you turn down $500k a year?
Most recently, Alex has announced that she is continuing CHD as a solo host, and aired an episode hosted titled “The Funeral” as a #singleFather.
“Betrayal”
In the end, fans are upset and hurt that a show that preaches sexual independence and power is falling apart because one of the hosts is choosing to stand with her boyfriend instead of prioritizing her own hustle and career path. It makes them look like hypocrites.
Nonetheless, that’s the CHD drama in a nutshell. I would argue that it is far from over.
