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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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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