As Pix's resident pop culture expert, I consider it my professional responsibility to stay on top of celebrity gossip, internet drama, and the occasional public downfall. And if there's one thing I've learned from spending far too much time online, it's that podcast breakups are a special breed of messy.

This week, two of podcasting's biggest sagas are back in the headlines, thanks to two forthcoming tell-all memoirs (and a divorce filing that's sent the internet into a frenzy). So, I figured it was time for a refresher on the friendship breakups, cheating scandals, multimillion-dollar business disputes, and family drama that got us here. Consider this your crash course in podcasting's messiest breakups.

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I assume we were all chronically online in 2020 (I mean, what else was there to do?!), so you’ve already heard about the great Call Her Daddy breakup. But in case you need a refresher…

Before Alex Cooper was one of the most powerful women in podcasting, she was one half of the wildly popular and—at the time—wildly vulgar Call Her Daddy, which she launched in 2018 with her then-best friend Sofia Franklyn. They were quickly picked up by Barstool Sports, and their raunchy, unfiltered conversations about sex made them internet sensations, with a fiercely loyal fan base known as the Daddy Gang.

At the height of their popularity in 2020, the duo suddenly stopped releasing episodes amid a contract dispute with Barstool. Alex and Sofia were each earning around $75,000 a year and, with advice from Sofia's then-boyfriend, decided to shop their wildly successful show elsewhere. And frankly, who could blame them? The problem was that Barstool owned the IP, and the women disagreed on how to proceed. Ultimately, Alex struck a deal with Barstool founder Dave Portnoy that would give her ownership of the podcast if she finished her contract, effectively icing Sofia out.

The former best friends stopped speaking; Sofia launched her own show, Sofia with an F, and the Daddy Gang picked sides. A year after her Barstool contract ended, Alex reportedly signed a $60 million deal with Spotify, launched her own network, Unwell, and eventually secured a reported $125 million deal with SiriusXM.

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You'd think one spectacular podcast breakup would be enough for one lifetime, but five years later, Alex Cooper found herself at the center of another one.

In 2023, Alex launched the Unwell Network and signed TikTok sensation Alix Earle to host her own podcast, Hot Mess. It seemed like a match made in influencer heaven, as the two stars appeared to have a mentor-mentee relationship.

Then, in February 2025, Hot Mess abruptly parted ways with Unwell, and the internet immediately started speculating about what went wrong. Neither woman offered much of an explanation beyond subtle TikTok digs until April 2026, when Cooper publicly challenged Earle to share her side of the story:

The internet waited impatiently for a response, which finally came in September with Alix's Netflix reality show, Earle Meets World. The show itself is only worth your time if you're a fan of Alix, but anyone curious about the saga should watch the finale, where she reads her unsent text to Cooper:

“I wanted to write you directly and let you know I don’t like you. I’m not gonna fall for your bait of getting into a back-and-forth online, and I don’t think you want that either…You are manipulative and toxic. Go ahead and say ‘it’s just a business’ all you want, but the way you approach business is disgusting. You choose money over morals.”

She added, “You took advantage of me at a young age in a new industry I knew nothing about. You are full of false promises, and Unwell was a continuation of that. We had a call where you threatened me to not go to war with you, because you know how sick and twisted you are.”

Cooper hasn’t publicly addressed Earle’s accusations on the show, but she’s been a bit preoccupied.

If you thought the Call Her Daddy breakups were messy, meet Frenemies, a podcast built on the premise that mutual disdain makes for the best entertainment. 

In 2020, Ethan Klein, one half of the husband-and-wife duo behind H3, teamed up with controversial internet personality Trisha Paytas for a podcast that was equal parts pop culture commentary, petty arguments, and chaos. They routinely fought, made up, wore ridiculous matching costumes, and aired their grievances for millions of people to watch. And, over time, they developed a genuine friendship that was surprisingly heartwarming to see blossom. 

Oh, and did I mention Trisha was dating Ethan's wife Hila's brother, Moses? What could possibly go wrong?!

In June 2021, on their 39th episode, a disagreement over creative control, production decisions, and revenue sharing escalated into a very public falling-out on the podcast itself. Trisha quit, and what followed was an endless stream of YouTube videos, accusations, and dark family drama that left siblings Moses and Hila estranged to this day.

Frenemies only lasted nine months, but its implosion became one of YouTube's most infamous breakups. Five years later, the family drama is back in the headlines, and this time, it's somehow even darker…

For some context, Ethan and Hila Klein first rose to fame with their YouTube channel h3h3Productions, known for its comedy sketches, reaction videos, and commentary on internet culture. They eventually launched the H3 Podcast, which grew into a hugely popular operation (with over 7.8M subscribers between the two H3 channels) covering everything from celebrity gossip to personal stories, with a production crew that became personalities in their own right. Watching clips now, I can’t for the life of me understand how their show is so popular, but to each their own!

Cut to the last two weeks: Hila publicly accused Ethan of having an affair lasting more than six months. The couple had been together for nearly 20 years, married for 14, and built an entire media empire together, including H3 and Hila's clothing brand, Teddy Fresh. They also share three young children.

Naturally, the internet immediately went into detective mode, with unverified speculation that Ethan may have allegedly cheated with a member of the H3 production team. Neither Ethan nor Hila has identified the other person involved, but that hasn't stopped fans from dissecting old episodes for clues…(including his take on an incredibly similar scandal with the OG podcast cheater, Try Guy’s Ned Fulmer).

The fallout has been swift. The H3 crew publicly sided with Hila, announcing they would no longer work with Ethan or work on the show as long as Ethan would profit from it. Ethan said he was working to remove his financial interests from the podcast business, and H3 is now on indefinite hiatus.

And on Monday, it was announced that Hila filed for divorce, requesting joint custody of their children and spousal support. After 14 years of marriage, one of the internet's most recognizable partnerships is coming to an end.

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Meredith is the Managing Editor at Pix Media and has been covering TV, movies, podcasts, and books for 8 years. Raised on VH1's I Love the... series, E! True Hollywood Stories, and The Real Housewives, Meredith has been fluent in pop culture since infancy. She religiously watches every Bravo show, lives for HBO Sunday nights, goes deep on reality-scandal discourse, and has a TBR that is physically taking over her apartment.