Alix Earle’s ‘Hot Mess’ Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network (EXCLUSIVE)
By Tatiana Siegel
Hot mess, indeed.
Alix Earle’s “Hot Mess” podcast has been dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. Sources say SiriusXM will also no longer sell ads for the show and that the Unwell Network has renounced all rights to “Hot Mess” so that Earle can freely explore future opportunities.
The move comes amid growing chatter on social media of a feud between Cooper, host of the wildly popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” and Earle, the party girl influencer with a massive TikTok following. Speculation of a rift grew when Earle skipped an Unwell Super Bowl party in New Orleans even though she was in town.
In August 2023, Cooper announced that she was launching the Unwell Network and signed Earle to join the fold. The network was positioned as a production shingle that could speak to Gen Z audiences with “unique voices that embrace social challenges and personal insecurities through honest conversation.”
Unwell’s initial talent signings also included “Pretty Lonesome” host Madeline Argy, who, alongside Cooper and Earle, would “develop a variety of multiplatform concepts and projects” across such silos as pop-culture, beauty, fashion and lifestyle.
The Unwell Network is a subsidiary of Tending, the media company Cooper founded with her fiancé, Matt Kaplan of ACE Entertainment. In August 2024, Cooper inked a deal with Sirius XM that includes Unwell Music (Cooper’s own music channel) and Unwell on Air (“The Daily Dirty” and “The Dialed In Show”).
Despite Earle’s exit, Unwell has a deep bench. In February, the network signed Grace O’Malley to launch her “DisGRACEful” podcast. Cooper’s network also includes Harry Jowsey’s “Boyfriend Material” and Owen Theile’s “In Your Dreams.” And Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” continues to land huge guests. In the fall, she sat down with Kamala Harris during the presidential election run-up.
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Alix Earle’s Hot Mess Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Network amid Feud Reports
The two are rumored to be feuding after Earle skipped a 2025 Super Bowl party hosted by Cooper’s Unwell Network
TAYLOR HILL/WIREIMAGE; STEPHANE CARDINALE/CORBIS VIA GETTY
Alix Earle’s tenure at the Unwell Network has ended amid reports of a feud between her and Alex Cooper.
According to a new report from Variety citing sources, the Unwell Network, which Cooper started, has dropped Earle’s Hot Mess podcast.
The outlet said the Unwell Network has renounced all rights to Hot Mess so Earle can freely explore future opportunities. SiriusXM will no longer sell ads for the show.
The Unwell Network is a subsidiary of Tending, a media company Cooper founded with her husband, Matt Kaplan of ACE Entertainment. PEOPLE has reached out to Cooper’s and Earle’s representatives for comment.
GOTHAM/GC IMAGES
Fans have been speculating that the two influencers may be at odds, as Earle was absent from an Unwell Super Bowl party in New Orleans earlier in February.
Photos from the event shared on social media showed Hallie Batchelder, who hosts the Extra Dirty podcast, and Grace O’Malley, who signed with the Unwell Network in December after leaving Barstool Sports, as attendees.
Earle, who regularly chronicles her day-to-day activities on TikTok, uploaded several videos from her time in New Orleans, including having dinner with her boyfriend Braxton Barrios and going out with friends. She also attended the 2025 Super Bowl.
HOT MESS WITH ALIX EARLE/YOUTUBE
The Hot Mess host was one of the first talents to sign with the network when it launched in August 2023.
When she and Madeline Argy signed with the network, Cooper said she was “honored to be at a place in my career where I can pass along knowledge and advice for a new generation of creators to flourish.”
Cooper signed a deal with SiriusXM a year later to expand the network, launching Unwell Music and Unwell On Air.
CHARLES SYKES/BRAVO VIA GETTY
When Hot Mess began its second season last September, Earle brought on her sister Ashtin as a new co-host.
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“I really wanted to elevate the whole feel of Hot Mess for Season 2 and after Ashtin co-hosted with me a few times, I knew that we would be able to do just that by bringing her on in a bigger way,” Earle told V Magazine about the new addition. Earle released her latest podcast episode on Feb. 19.
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Alix Earle’s Hot Mess Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network
Alix Earle’s Hot Mess podcast has parted ways with Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network, according to multiple outlets, fueling rumors of a rift between the two media personalities.
There’s a major shakeup in the podcasting world.
Alix Earle’s Hot Mess podcast has been dropped from Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network lineup, according to multiple outlets.
In addition, SiriusXM—who announced a content partnership with Cooper in August—renounced its rights to the show and will no longer sell ads for the program, the outlets reported.
Earle’s weekly show launched in September 2023 under the Unwell banner, part of the media company co-founded by Cooper, 30, and her husband Matt Kaplan. Hot Mess focuses on topics ranging from “friendships to family, relationship updates to rumors, traveling and navigating life after college,” according to the show’s official description.
The business shift fueled growing social media speculation of a rift between the two podcast hosts, which seemingly began when Earle, 24, was a no-show at an Unwell Network Super Bowl event in New Orleans.
E! News has reached out to Earle and Cooper’s reps for comment but has not heard back.
Meanwhile, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy fanned the flames by sharing a screenshot of an alleged 22-minute phone call with Earle on social media, teasing more details to come on the matter and leading to rumors he might hire her.
“You can stop tagging me,” he captioned the Feb. 25 TikTok post. “I know what needs to be done.”
While Earle may have opted to skip Unwell’s Super Bowl festivities, the TikTok creator and her boyfriend Braxton Berrios did attend the GQ Bowl in the city the same weekend, where she explained her recent video that insinuated an engagement was on the horizon.
“That was kind of a wild one of me to pull,” she told E! News at the Feb. 7 event. “But no, nothing right now. [We’re] both focused on our careers and having fun, but it’s going great.”
And with their romance in good shape, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver didn’t elaborate on plans for the future.
“Those conversations are kept between us,” Berrios said, “but no, there’s no timeline.”
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Sophie Rain
The OnlyFans model revealed that she made over $43 million in just one year on the adult subscription platform. In fact, she even shared screenshots of her earnings from November 2023 to November 2024, which included a $4.7 million paycheck from one subscriber alone.
JoJo Siwa
The Dance Moms alum revealed that she made “six digits a month, easy” on YouTube videos as a 13-year-old. She added in the 2024 documentary Child Star that she now posts up to 300 times a day on Snapchat as part of her influencing career.
Chris Olsen
The TikToker revealed he has a net worth of over seven figures.
“You guys can keep calling me annoying,” he quipped in a July 2024 video. “Being annoying has made me a millionaire.”
Jeffree Star
The makeup artist revealed he earns $50,000 when he hosts a TikTok live—which he does four or five times a week—through selling cosmetics and gifting from fans.
“I’ll make bacon in the morning and make $50,000,” Jeffree told the Cancelled podcast in November 2024. “There’s some times where I don’t sell at all, and I’ll just make bacon in my kitchen, in my bathrobe, in my little slippers, we’ll just hang out and I’ll just chat and I’ll do a Q&A.”
Other times, he’s making bank by offering discounts on his own branded makeup products.
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Lily Phillips
The OnlyFans model—who made headlines in December 2024 for sleeping with 101 men in one day—told E! News that she earns a “good amount” off of creating NSFW content on the subscription-based platform.
As for a ballpark figure, she said, “Oh, we’re in the millions.”
Markell Washington
Markell—known for his dance videos—told Salary Transparency Street in 2023 that he earns between $500,000 and $700,000 a year, mostly from brand deals and Snapchat’s mid-roll program.
Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee
After appearing on Netflix’s dating show Love Is Blind in 2022, the pair pivoted to social media stardom and said they each made $500,000 in less than two years as influencers.
Julia
The ASMR influencer—known as @itsblitzzz on YouTube —admitted in January 2024 that she scores about $56,400 a year on ad revenue from old videos, without creating new content.
She’s made over $610,000 in 14 years on the platform in ad revenue alone, with less than a million subscribers.
King Caitlin ASMR
The ASMR creator shared that she made $3,948.05 on TikTok in September 2024 (with nearly 400,000 followers) and $910.95 on YouTube in the same month (with nearly 27,000 subscribers).
Makayla Samountry
The Minnesota YouTuber made over $193,000 on the adult platform OnlyFans from January 2020 to December 2022, she shared in a Medium article.
Morgan Presley
As explained on The Really Good Podcast in 2023, the content creator has scored $50,000 on a single sponsored video.
Gigi Robinson
The chronic illness advocate told Salary Transparency Street in 2023 that she earns about $150,000 a year with less than 40,000 Instagram followers.
Ben Brainard
The comedian charges between $5,000 and $10,000 for a sponsored video, he told Salary Transparency Street.
Kamillah Rae
The YouTuber shared that she made $4,746.94 from monetization on the platform from August 2023 to January 2024 (from a total of 923,700 video views), with under 30,000 subscribers.
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