Alex Cooper says social media spat with Alix Earle is ‘not a PR stunt’

Three of social media’s biggest stars are taking their spat to the court of public opinion.

Influencers Alex Cooper and Alix Earle, who were rumored to have a massive fallout last year, have exchanged barbs on social media in the past week, renewing fan interest in their purported feud.

The saga began when Cooper posted a TikTok video Monday accusing Earle of resharing “passive-aggressive” social media posts about her. By Wednesday, it had escalated, with Cooper also claiming Barstool Sports podcaster Brianna LaPaglia (known online as Brianna Chickenfry) is “adding onto the fake narrative and dog pile” by calling her a “mean girl.”

Cooper, whose “Call Her Daddy” podcast is among the most listened-to shows, has built a brand with Unwell Network, a subsidiary of the media company Trending, which she founded with her husband, Matt Kaplan. Her millions of listeners, nicknamed the “Daddy Gang,” consider her the go-to voice on relationships, dating and life in your 20s and 30s.

Earle, meanwhile, exploded in popularity in 2023 while she was a student at the University of Miami by making viral “get ready with me” videos. She now has 8.4 million followers on TikTok and 5.5 million on Instagram. She was one of the first people Cooper signed for her Unwell Network, which has been marketed as a media and production company catering to Generation Z audiences.

But the partnership was short-lived: Earle, who also hosted a podcast called “Hot Mess,” left Unwell last year, after fans noticed the duo had seemed to distance themselves from each other.

The two kept it professional — until this week, when Cooper’s video marked the first time either of the women has publicly spoken about any such feud.

“I got to call you out here. You’re going to need to get specific and just say what you got to say about me,” Cooper said in the video. “There’s no NDA. No one is stopping you. Stop hiding behind other people and just say it yourself. What’s the beef?”

She went on to accuse Earle of creating a “fake narrative” that “happens to be way more interesting than the truth.”

“I know what happened, and so do you,” Cooper said, addressing Earle. “I have nothing to hide when it comes to you and me. So unless you actually have something to say, I’m out. This is over.”

“Okay on it!!” Earle commented.

Earle hasn’t posted a video directly responding to Cooper’s callout. However, she shared one of her friends recording her initial reaction to the TikTok video.

In it, Earle appears to laugh in response to part of the video, and she says afterward, “Wait, that just literally made my whole day.”

At first, some online speculated that the back-and-forth could be part of a broader publicity stunt. Both creators, who have massive followings, are also entrepreneurs with their own products that they promote.

But on Wednesday, Cooper posted an Instagram story about LaPaglia that appeared to suggest the beef isn’t manufactured.

“This girl on girl s— needs to stop,” Cooper wrote, adding that she and LaPaglia have never met in person. She went on to post a series of direct messages they exchanged over the years that appear to be friendly. (NBC News hasn’t independently verified the screenshots that were shared.)

“So speaking of mean girls… I have never met you in my life,” Cooper wrote in the story. “What I just showed is the only interaction we’ve ever had. And you hate me? Wow. Please go back and read the dms. That has never been the nature of our relationship.”

She closed her statement with a return to Earle, shutting down rumors that the supposed feud is a publicity stunt: “Now back to Alix. And no this is not a pr stunt.”

LaPaglia quickly responded to Cooper with a video of her own, saying those DMs happened “before I found out everything about this girl.” She also slammed sleuths who claim the saga is all a publicity stunt, telling them to “get a brain cell.”

“I work at Barstool, so Dave introduced me to Alex Cooper. I was a fan of Alex Cooper before I knew the wrath of f—ing Alex Cooper and what she does to people and how she treats people. I’m friends with Alix Earl. Alix Earl told me everything that transpired between those two two years ago at the Super Bowl. She told me everything.”

She didn’t expand on what supposedly happened at the Super Bowl, saying it’s “not my story to tell.”

“From what Alix Earl told me, Alex Cooper is a very, very mean person,” LaPaglia added.

Representatives for Cooper, Earle, LaPaglia and Portnoy didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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