It looks like the internet’s favorite podcast-era alliance has officially turned into a very public fallout.
The tension between influencers Alex Cooper and Alix Earle has been simmering for over a year, but this week, it finally boiled over, with direct callouts, cryptic responses, and other creators stepping into the drama.
Here’s how things unraveled.
It started with a co-sign
Back in August 2023, Cooper brought Earle into her newly launched Unwell Network — positioning her as one of its breakout talents. At the time, it looked like a strategic mentor-mentee moment, with Earle’s Hot Mess podcast launching soon after under the network.
The partnership was framed as a next-gen media move: Cooper expanding her empire, Earle stepping into long-form content with serious backing.
The business got bigger — and messier
By August 2024, Cooper had secured a reported $125 million deal with SiriusXM, taking Unwell and its shows into a much bigger space. But within months, things around Earle’s Hot Mess podcast started shifting.
In February 2025, after Earle notably skipped a major Unwell Super Bowl event, reports surfaced that Hot Mess had been dropped. SiriusXM also reportedly stepped away from the show, halting ad sales.
That was the first real sign something wasn’t right.
Subtle shade turned into speculation
A month later, Earle announced she was stepping back from podcasting “for the foreseeable future,” carefully avoiding details.
“I don’t really want to get into it right now,” she said at the time, which only added fuel to the speculation.
@alixearle our first vlog is out now and linked in my bio 🥹♥️ love u guys so excited
Cooper, meanwhile, quickly shut down one narrative: that Unwell had blocked Earle.
She wrote on her Instagram stories, “idk why she can’t/what is going.” "Unwell fave her everything back, she owns her IP, writing that “no one is stopping you.”
Still, the silence — and the tone — hinted at something deeper.
The internet starts reading between the lines
By mid-2025, Earle leaned into the mystery rather than clearing it up.
In interviews with WSJ and TikTok replies, she teased that what happened behind the scenes was “a little bit of a hot mess,” even jokingly asking a fan, “How much time do you have?” when prompted to explain.
Cooper returns the slight with an Instagram post promoting an Unwell event in Las Vegas that seemingly mocked Earle’s performance on “Dancing With the Stars” by using the same song — “Circus” by Britney Spears — and including a caption that began, “How much time do you have? Cause we could go all night ... “
Earle reposts a TikTok video that likens Cooper to the grim reaper. The post describes Cooper as an ambulance chaser who preys on people who have just gone through a horrific accident so she can get the exclusive.
At that point, the story had shifted from business fallout to full-blown internet intrigue.
Then came the direct callout
Fast forward to April 2026, and Cooper decided to stop the vagueposting.
In a blunt TikTok, she accused Earle of being “passive-aggressive” and challenged her to speak openly.
@fathercooper @Alix Earle
“What’s the beef?” Cooper said. “There’s no NDA… just say it.”
She also suggested Earle was using the drama to distract from other issues — escalating the situation from speculation to outright confrontation.
Earle’s response? Short and loaded: “Okay on it!!” She also posted a TikTok video with her friends seemingly responding to Cooper’s.
@alixearle Shoutout to my friends for knowing I would want this moment captured 😭
Outside voices jump in
Things escalated further when Brianna LaPaglia publicly sided with Earle.
In her own TikTok, LaPaglia accused Cooper of being a “very, very mean person,” claiming she had heard details about the fallout years earlier.
That’s when the feud stopped being a two-person situation.
Cooper claps back — with receipts
Cooper responded quickly, denying the claims and posting alleged screenshots of past DMs with LaPaglia to show their interactions had been friendly.
“I’ve never met you,” she wrote, pushing back on the “mean girl” label and questioning why the narrative had suddenly flipped.
It was a clear attempt to regain control of the story — but by then, the internet had already picked sides.
Where things stand now
Right now, the feud sits in that familiar influencer limbo: no full explanation, but plenty of public tension.
Earle has hinted she might speak, Cooper says she has nothing to hide, and the audience is left piecing together a story built on partial truths, business decisions, and a lot of subtext.
But one thing is clear: in the words of Cooper, this is not a publicity stunt