Never thought it would happen, but Alix Earle has finally addressed the rumored drama surrounding her and Alex Cooper. ICYMI, on Feb. 25, it was announced that Earle’s Hot Mess podcast had been dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. (Her Campus reached out to both Earle and Cooper’s teams about this rumor but did not hear back by the time of publication.) By renouncing all rights to Hot Mess, sources confirmed that Cooper and SiriusXM would no longer sell ads for the show and give Earle the freedom to explore other opportunities.
When Cooper had Earle join the Unwell Network, it seemed to mark the beginning of a powerhouse friendship. But in the weeks leading up to news of Earle’s podcast getting dropped by Cooper’s company, fans speculated that there was drama brewing between the two content creators. For a while, it seemed like we were never going to know what really went down between Earle and Cooper. And while we still don’t know exactly what happened, Earle briefly spoke out about her Hot Mess podcast getting dropped from the Unwell Network in a TikTok video on Feb. 28.
“This week has been like, meh,” Earle said. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of chatter online this week about me and work. And I also have no idea what’s going on.” Earle didn’t speak on the situation further. Her Campus reached out to Cooper’s team about Earle’s video, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
So, how did Earle and Cooper get to this point? Let’s break it down.
Earle and cooper haven’t been seen together In a while.
On Feb. 11, Betches reported that despite both Copper and Earle being in New Orleans for the 2025 Super Bowl LIX, they weren’t seen together. This raised a ton of red flags, considering Cooper hosted an Unwell Super Bowl party with her Unwell Network collaborators, which included Grace O’Malley, Avery Woods, and more.
Lack of social support.
If you’ve been paying close attention to the Unwell Network’s social media activity, then you might have noticed that it hasn’t been promoting Earle and her Hot Mess podcast like it used to. The official accounts have been singing Hallie Batchelder’s praises instead — am I sensing a replacement?
Earle’s dad gets involved.
In a December 2024 episode of the Hot Mess podcast titled “Family, Finances & Football”, Alix’s dad, TJ Earle, made an appearance. For those who don’t know, TJ manages Alix and his other daughter, Ashtin. During the episode, Alix mentioned how her dad is good at “having hard conversations with people” when it comes to them not realizing her full potential or “what she needs to be doing.” TJ then brought up an incident that was “business but also something else.” He explained that he “wasn’t happy about it” and “still isn’t.” Was he hinting at Alix’s partnership with a big media company? She said “teaaaa” so this story feels too coincidental.
Two warring guests at the same time.
A few days after Earle promoted her interview with Brianna Chickenfry in December 2024, Cooper announced she would be welcoming Grace O’Malley to the Unwell family. O’Malley and Chickenfry’s beef was everywhere after Chickenfry’s BFFs tell-all following their falling out. So yeah, it’s a bit awkward that those two were back-to-back guests on partnered podcasts.
Fans doubt the success.
When Earle and Cooper’s collaboration was first announced in August 2023, fans were quick to point out that the partnership might not have the best end result for Earle, who had a massive following but would be giving Cooper a big chunk of podcast revenue. Is this what ultimately brought Earle and Cooper’s collaboration to an end?
All I can say is, “Yikes.”