Alex Cooper’s Unwell Valued at $500M in WTSL Deal
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Unwell, the media company that Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan built around the Call Her Daddy podcast, has taken outside money for the first time. The investment comes from WTSL and values the Los Angeles business at $500 million on a pre money basis. Neither side disclosed how much capital changed hands.
That is a notable number for a company only three years old. Cooper and Kaplan started Unwell in 2023 and have said it has been profitable since day one, which is part of why the round is being framed as growth capital rather than a rescue or a runway extension.
WTSL is the investment firm founded in 2024 by Patrick Whitesell, the former Endeavor executive whose client roster has included Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Jason Lublin is also part of the firm’s leadership. Silver Lake, the private equity firm, backed WTSL at its founding.
Unwell sits in a corner of the entertainment business that has been difficult for traditional media to price. The company has had its share of turbulence too. Alix Earle’s Hot Mess podcast left the Unwell network in 2025, a departure Cooper has attributed to manufactured drama and one that Earle has not explained publicly.
The California company now has an institutional partner for the first time, and a valuation that puts it in rare company among creator led media businesses.
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