After a heated public callout by Unwell founder Alex Cooper, Trojans comment on the tension between her and it-girl Alix Earle, leaving viewers to speculate on what went down between the two blonde influencers.
Alex Cooper posted a TikTok video calling out fellow influencer Alix Earle for what Cooper called “passive-aggressive” behavior on April 13. As Cooper — along with online viewers from both ends of the conversation — awaits Earle’s response.
In her video, Cooper challenged Earle to “say what she wanted to say.”
Earle responded below the post, commenting, “Okay on it!!”
“I’ve seen a lot of stuff about how Alix Earle is better, and Alex Cooper is just a mean girl, and she’s wrong,” said freshman health and human sciences major Mia Shofnos. “I’ve also heard it’s just all a PR stunt.”
In the days following the initial video, Earle posted a reaction video to Cooper’s callout. The video featured her friends waking her up in Coachella to the news of the post. Earle later posted a dancing video with the caption, “Sorry, been busy filming this week.”
The feud between Cooper and Earle started long before last week.
After leaving media company Barstool in Sept. 2023 to start her own, called Unwell. Cooper signed TikTok superstar Earle to produce her podcast Hot Mess under the Unwell banner
In February, 2025, Hot Mess was dropped from Unwell’s roster. Rumors swirled online about what caused the split behind the scenes, with Earle’s fans coming after Cooper for allegedly taking advantage of the younger influencer. According to a report from Bloomberg, Hot Mess, like other shows produced by Unwell, had only a fraction of the listener base that Call Her Daddy had cultivated.
Earle addressed the situation in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying that the situation between herself and Cooper was “a little bit of a hot mess.”
Yet, the lack of response from Earle has left some Trojans speculating about her silence. Given Cooper’s known political beliefs, some are quick to blame ideology for the division.
“I was heavy[ily on the side of] Alix Earle until yesterday, [when] I saw a TikTok speculating the whole beef was about political views,” said sophomore biology major Wynne Adamson.
Adamson said that if the theory holds up, he “would say Alex Cooper.”
Some students question how Cooper’s $60 million Spotify deal, for which Earle was a key player.
“As a content creator myself, this just made me more aware, and I’ll definitely be reading the fine print of contracts and partnerships,” said rising content creator and USC student Cecilia Belle.