Podcast star Alex Cooper accuses her Boston University soccer coach of sexual harassment in new doc
Popular podcaster Alex Cooper made startling allegations in the upcoming Hulu documentary, 'Call Her Alex,' that she was sexually harassed by her soccer coach at Boston University.
The revelation in the new Hulu doc, set to premiere on the streaming platform on June 10, comes 10 years after Cooper said she went through the ordeal, which she claimed was three years of escalating sexual harassment at the hands of former head coach Nancy Feldman until she left the team in her senior year.
'I felt a lot of anger—anger at my coach, anger at my school, and anger at the system that allowed this to happen,' the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast host Cooper said in the documentary, according to Vanity Fair. 'I don't think anyone could've prepared me for the lasting effects that came from this experience. She turned something that I loved so much into something extremely painful.'
Feldman coached BU's women's soccer team for 22 years before she retired in 2022, but Cooper said that the former coach started to 'fixate on me way more than any other teammate of mine' during her sophomore season.
Cooper was a member of the Terriers women's soccer program from 2013-15.
It was during that time Cooper alleges Feldman took an uncomfortable interest in her and would make comments about her body and her personal life, including once asking Cooper if she had sex the previous night.
The podcaster and media mogul also said Feldman would try to get her alone, put a hand on her thigh and stare at her.
In the documentary, Cooper said that any time she would try to 'resist' Feldman, the coach would tell her 'there would be consequences.'
'It was this psychotic game of, 'You wanna play? Tell me about your sex life. I have to drive you to your night class, get in the car with me alone,'' Cooper said in the doc. 'I started trying to spend as little time as possible with her. Taking different routes to practice where I knew I wouldn't run into her, during meetings, I would try to sit as far away from her as possible. Literally anything to not be alone with this woman.'
And when Cooper and her family attempted to approach Boston University officials about their claims, she said they were brushed off and officials asked her, 'What do you want?'
Cooper claims Boston University officials told her family that they would not fire Feldman, but would allow Cooper to keep her full soccer scholarship.
Cooper said that the school did not investigate her claims.
Feldman compiled 418 victories to rank 22nd all time among NCAA women's soccer coaches and was named conference coach of the year 12 times.
She was the program's only coach since 1995, when it became a varsity sport.
Boston University did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post.
Cooper has hinted at a traumatic experience from her time playing soccer at BU, which included interviews with Cosmopolitan and The New York Times, and it was teased in the trailer for the documentary.
The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before its release on the streaming platform, and during a Q&A afterward, Cooper, who previously worked for Barstool Sports, said she was motivated to come forward as they were making the film.
'During the filming of this documentary, I found out that the harassment and abuse of power is still happening on the campus of Boston University, and I spoke to one of the victims, and hearing her story was horrific, and I knew in that moment, if I don't speak about this, it's going to continue happening,' Cooper said, according to Deadline.
'Call Her Daddy' became one of the most popular podcasts on the planet after debuting in 2018 and surged to second on the podcast charts behind only 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' before Cooper went over to SiriusXM last year in a massive deal.
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Yahoo
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Dan Fogelman and team on the making of ‘Paradise': ‘It only works if you have talented people who you trust'
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I had a screaming match in our office with Steve Beers, the line producer, about what color the cars would be. Fogelman: There were lots of conversations with John about cars. Requa: It's the hardest part, but it was the best part. Building a world — what a thrill. Early on, we'd been hearing about the show for a while in different forms. The first time, I think, Dan, you were talking about it as like a movie about a Secret Service guy and a retired president. And then it evolved. So when we read the script, it was wow, this is a really big swing. That just was thrilling — terrifying but thrilling. Sarah, how did you approach building the world from a costume perspective, knowing that you were going to be dressing people for two different lives, the pre and post-apocalyptic world? Sarah Bram: If there's a word for how we went about that, it has to do with restraint. 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Occasionally a person would write on Reddit, I think they're in an underground bunker; once in a blue moon somebody would hit on something. But I don't think anybody ever saw him. We had a premiere screening months ago and his own mother and agent said, we just wish we could see one that you were in — and he goes, well, I was actually in that one. And his own family didn't realize that he was the guy that played the assassin after having watched the pilot. So that was very cool. because the whole thing would have fallen on its face if it hadn't worked. Was it always intended that it was going to be him? Fogelman: I didn't know who it was going to be at the very beginning when I wrote the pilot. But then right when we gathered the writers room, one of our writers said, I think it would be cool if it was someone hiding in plain sight. What if it was a librarian? And then we're like, how are we going to do that? 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So for season two, we're going to be out sometimes with Sterling, but we're also going to make sure we live with the stuff people love in the bunker as well. And finding that balance. It was an exciting thing to discover that it's not just that people are tuning out when Sterling's not on camera on his A storyline. People love Sinatra and Sarah Shahi and Jon Beavers and James Marsden. They love all the storylines in the world that was created down below. Give me one word to describe Season 2. Fogelman: It's very ambitious. Hoberg: I was gonna say bigger. Requa: Subjective. Ficarra: Surprising. Khosla: It's incredibly cool. I've worked on the first couple already and it's awesome. This article and video are presented by Disney/Hulu. 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USA Today
an hour ago
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Who is Alex Cooper? What to know before watching 'Call Her Daddy' host's documentary
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Yahoo
an hour ago
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Natasha Rothwell and Sterling K. Brown Get Honest About ‘White Lotus' Rewrites, Doomsday and Being No. 1 on the Call Sheet: ‘For the Longest Time I Thought It Meant Something'
Natasha Rothwell is seeking a friend for the end of the world. A beloved and fiery social media presence, the writer-actor-producer-showrunner hit a professional high this year with a triumphant return to HBO's 'The White Lotus.' She reprises her role as Belinda Lindsey, a masseuse trying to move on from the broken Season 1 promises of Jennifer Coolidge's flaky heiress. But in real life, she confesses to Sterling K. Brown that she's been researching underground doomsday vaults, given the state of global politics. 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I think for me, for the longest time, I thought it meant something. After Season 1 of 'The White Lotus' wrapped, I pulled Mike White aside and I got emotional. I went to school for acting like you did — we contain multitudes — but my entry point into the industry was comedy writing for 'Saturday Night Live.' It's been so hard to get the industry to see all of me. And they can be really entrenched in 'She's the funny, fat Black lady. We're going to put her in this corner, and that's the box she's in.' For Mike to give me Belinda, it was like he opened a cage that I felt the edges of. Now I can imagine the freedom of being able to show all of yourself when you see a role that can unlock something in you. And as [a writer], I feel authorship I didn't have for a long time. I had relegated myself as No. 12 on the call sheet in my real life. Do you know what I mean? Brown: I do. 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There was many a network drama. There was many a serialized. There were 22 to 24 episodes. Now we're doing six or eight. And so much has left Los Angeles. Rothwell: There was a game show shooting near us in Thailand. Brown: I was just working in Australia, and there were seven other productions living in my hotel. Rothwell: There's a little bit of 'Molly, you in danger, girl' about it all. Brown: Speaking of Belinda and the last 'White Lotus,' she's in a moral conundrum because she's [avoiding] a man she knows by another name who was not good to his wife. You ultimately wind up approaching him, and he hits you with an indecent proposal. What would Natasha do in Belinda's situation? Take the money and run? Rothwell: I think that Belinda saw an opportunity to get something she fundamentally believed she deserved. She's a moral center for the show. I'm scared for her, because I do think karma is real and the money is blood money. That storyline was my pitch. Brown: Was it really? Rothwell: It was my pitch. Listen, this is why I love Mike White. Originally it was Belinda's son, Zion, running the show. I told Mike I really wanted to see Belinda have agency in this moment. Can she take over the negotiation in some way? What is an authentic way for her to show that she's pushing her chips in along with her son? Being able to show that turn, she sees that she has power over a white man — the kind of man that she's been rubbing the backs of for a long time. Brown: Is she breaking bad? Rothwell: I don't know that she's breaking bad, but I think she feels that there's an opportunity here. I also come from a place of great empathy. I remember when I was first able to not think about money 24/7. I used to carry around a check in my wallet when I was fucking broke. I wrote it for the amount of my student loans just to say, 'Someday I'm going to be able to [pay this].' Brown: Did the money Belinda got also quell her on the idea of going into partnership with Pornchai [played by Dom Hetrakul]? Rothwell: That pisses me off. People are just like, 'Oh, you just left Pornchai on the side of the road.' She fucked the dude one night. She had a one-night stand. She owed him nothing. Belinda had an opportunity to betray herself again, but no. Circumstances changed. For you, your performance contains so much vulnerability and selflessness in moments. How do you find that, when I think so often the really human default is fear and 'I got to save me'? Brown: My character is someone who's been without his best friend and partner for three years. He's incomplete. And he's raising two children by himself, knowing that this wasn't how it was supposed to be. When he's introduced to the idea that his family could be reunited — Rothwell: He paused when he was in that shower with your co-star Sarah Shahi. 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