The podcaster announced four new original programs with YouTube and Unwell Productions
Credit: John Nacion/Variety via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan made a joint appearance at YouTube’s TV Upfronts on Wednesday, May 13
- There, Cooper announced four new Unwell Network productions set to air through spring 2027
- Their attendance follows reports alleging that Kaplan yelled at staff and threatened careers during the production of YouTube Original’s Unwell Winter Games
Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan attended YouTube's TV Upfronts together amid the ongoing reports about their company, Trending.
The married couple appeared at the Wednesday, May 13 event, where Cooper, 31, announced Unwell's new programming that will air through the spring of 2027. Their appearance comes amid scrutiny over Trending — an umbrella company that houses Cooper's Unwell Network, which includes her hit podcast Call Her Daddy — as well as the influencer's ongoing feud with Alix Earle.
She announced the competition series Unwell Games, the two-part miniseries Pot Stirrer, the microdrama Holiday Hard Launch and the docuseries Before The Steps.
Unwell Games will premiere in late summer and bring together top creators and reality stars under one roof as they battle for power and prize money. Pot Stirrers will premiere Thanksgiving weekend, and like Unwell Games, will award a winner who survives a "high-stakes social experiment" at a "chaos-fueled" Thanksgiving dinner with a volatile group of reality stars and internet personalities, per the press release.
Then, Holiday Hard Launch will premiere in the winter, chronicling the love story between two strangers who agree to fake a relationship for the holiday season, until the lines between performance and reality blur. The fourth production, Before The Steps, will premiere in the spring of 2027 and will follow "celebrities in the high-pressure months leading up to the Met Gala."
Credit: John Nacion/Variety via Getty
While speaking to the crowd, Cooper celebrated Unwell's new slate and explained how Unwell plays a role on YouTube and "in women's lives."
"Legacy media spent decades deciding who we should watch," she said. "Their problem is this generation stopped asking for permission."
She continued: "Networks didn't lose this audience — they never had them. And she doesn't just watch. She shows up. Not because of an algorithm, it's her choice. Her loyalty is not bought, it is earned.”
Cooper and Kaplan's joint appearance on Wednesday comes weeks after Bloomberg News published a bombshell report about Trending on April 20. The report alleged that Kaplan — who runs the company with Cooper — "frequently" yells at staff members, citing “people familiar with the company's operations.”
The report also claimed that, while the company was producing its YouTube-original series Unwell Winter Games earlier this year, Kaplan allegedly “berated” staff on set and threatened to prevent them from ever working in Hollywood again, causing one crew member to break down in tears. (Cooper's representative has not responded to PEOPLE's request for comment about the allegations.)
Credit: Arnold Jerocki/Getty
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The bombshell report came amid reports of Cooper's public rift with Earle, who hosted the podcast Unwell from 2023 to 2025.
In April, Cooper broke her silence on their feud, sharing a TikTok telling Earle she should “stop hiding behind other people” and speak out about their beef publicly.
Earle has not formally responded, most recently dodging a question about tension between the two internet stars live on the Today Show on May 12, saying, “We don't actually have that much time here, honestly, and also, it's like, why ruin such a good day with something not so great. Let's keep the positive vibes going."
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