Sofia Franklyn Addresses Ex Peter Nelson’s Involvement in Podcast Deal

Sofia Franklyn is setting the record straight on her former boyfriend HBO Sports executive Peter Nelson’s level of involvement in her deal with Wondery.

In an interview on Jason Tartick’s “Trading Secrets” podcast released on Monday, June 16, Franklyn clarified what really happened behind the scenes. (Franklyn revealed the two had ended their relationship in a 2023 episode of the “Raw Talk” podcast.)

“I think that [Nelson’s involvement] is kind of false. I think the media really tried to put a spin on it and say he was just so involved,” Franklyn explained to Tartick. “He was my boyfriend. Like, you’re obviously going to confide in your boyfriend about your work and everything going on in your life. But I guess he wasn’t that involved.”

Tartick also asked if what ultimately happened with her relationship with Nelson led Franklyn to decide to keep any future relationship out of the spotlight.

“Yes, but not for the reasons of, like, they’re getting attention,” she explained. “For the reasons of, like, they’re getting negative attention. They didn’t ask to be a public figure. And I don’t want to be this public with a relationship again.”

She continued, “He didn’t want to be, you know, talked about publicly in the news.

The deal in question concerned the original version of the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, which Franklyn co-founded with Alex Cooper. The pair started the podcast in 2018 and were approached by Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy after one episode aired. They signed a three-year deal with the company that began to fall apart in 2020 after Portnoy heard rumors the duo were shopping the show to other networks.

Cooper reflected on the fallout that resulted from an attempt at contract renegotiations in her Hulu docuseries Call Her Alex. “It became really difficult to enjoy the process,” Cooper said during the first episode of Call Her Alex, which premiered via Hulu on June 10. “It was the classic you think you see something online, and people genuinely believed we were like sisters, but our relationship was so awful.”

She continued, “We absolutely deserved more money, but unfortunately, we had signed a three-year contract with Barstool Sports, and they owned our IP. Sofia and I went in together and we renegotiated our contacts. Dave ended up offering us what I considered the deal of a lifetime.”

In an infamous “rooftop meeting” — which was detailed on Cooper’s first solo episode of “Call Her Daddy” in 2020 — Portnoy offered them $500,000 each and complete ownership of the show.

Franklyn didn’t like the deal, while Cooper decided to take it. Rolling Stone reported Portnoy and Cooper later said Franklyn insisted Nelson was speaking to Wondery about a potentially more lucrative deal.

After her Barstool exit, Cooper signed an exclusive deal with Spotify for the show. In August 2024, she signed a $125 million deal with SiriusXM to build out the Unwell Network.