Your bag is empty.
It’s 11 a.m., and Sofia Franklyn needs to have the camera off for this interview.
“It’s so weird how the rules are around video on or off,” says Franklyn, the co-creator and former co-host of the “Call Your Daddy” podcast. “It’s like no one announces it beforehand, and then you kind of don’t want to say anything.”
If you know her by now, then you know that Franklyn isn’t afraid to not say anything, which is evident when we start talking about men, drugs, the meteoric rise of “Call Your Daddy,” and the very public and messy fallout with Alex Cooper, her former best friend and co-host. The 34-year-old opens up about her life and career in Daddy Issues, her new memoir that was released on Tuesday.
Playboy caught up with Franklyn to talk about her early life in Utah, her former friendship with Cooper and shedding the perception that she’s still the party girl she was in her 20s.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q1: Growing up, you said you wanted to be a dolphin. What kind of dolphin would you have been?
FRANKLYN: A majestic baby blue one that can jump really high. That’s how I’m picturing it. I know there are pink dolphins, but blue is my color.
Q2: I was really struck by your early life in Utah as a private Catholic schoolgirl. You have talked about those stretches of you finding trouble or smoking OxyContin or doing crack once. Looking back on it now, how would you describe your upbringing back then, and how it played out?
FRANKLYN: What is this life I have lived?—”You wanted to be a dolphin, then you were smoking Oxy, and then you were in Catholic school.” (laughs) My childhood, I would describe it as boundaryless and self-sabotage, sometimes in a sad way, but sometimes in a very thrilling way. In a way, that’s paid off down the road. I’m not telling kids in high school to smoke OxyContin or get arrested, but I am saying that mugshot did end up on a T-shirt that then I made money off of.
Q3: You’ve talked about meeting your own biological father for the first time in high school at a sushi restaurant called Happy Sumo, and how he barely spoke to you, or tried to claim you as his daughter. What did that experience mean for you and and how did it shape your life moving forward?
FRANKLYN: I wrote my college essay on that. It was this weird experience where I thought that it was going to be this thing where you meet your dad for the first time, and daddy’s home, and you embrace each other. I thought it would be like, “We share the same DNA, and therefore it’ll be like no time has passed”—and it was very much not that. My feelings around him and that moment were mostly confusion, and I think that’s because it is a confusing thing. It’s also the narrative that my mom kind of raised me on, which was, “You don’t have a dad, but that doesn’t matter, and there’s nothing wrong with you.” My feelings were confused, and I was very detached from having really any feelings toward him.
Q4: I got a kick out of you writing about your mom working with you on your your LinkedIn profile when you were just trying to find a job. When you eventually got to Morgan Stanley, you talked about how the job required no actual finance skills, and, in your own words, there was an astonishing lack of talent, creativity, inspiration and personality. How long could you have realistically stayed in a job you hated?
FRANKLYN: I stand by what I wrote in the book, and unfortunately, I would have stayed until they either fired me, or I found something else. But I stayed at Morgan Stanley for four more years, and it was soul-sucking. Do I still hate it when I think about it? Ten out of ten, yes.
Q5: I know so much has changed, but I thought it was cool how you could reflect back on those early days with Alex [Cooper], from the apartment hunting to going out to drink vodka and tequila, and having dudes sponsor your nights out. What still stands out as a good memory from that early period when when you guys were getting to know each other and going out?
FRANKLYN: I feel I need to clarify that we weren’t escorts. Just want to put that on the record (laughs). We did this several times where we would disappear from the table when the guys were not really fun or worthwhile, and head home, and then text the promoter that we were just in the bathroom. Those were some of the most fun nights.
Q6: One of your favorite theories back then was “Men ain’t shit.” Do you still think that, or has that theory evolved over time?
FRANKLYN: I was kind of raised on that theory, just from my experiences. I don’t think that now. There can be men who are not great, but I know that there are good men out there. I am now married, which is crazy. He’s a good man. He had to go through a lot with me, with that theory. I don’t think that anymore, but there are some circumstances where I’ll still use that.
Q7: It was cool to hear about the moment that you and Alex came together put this idea to start a YouTube channel and start a podcast. What expectations did you have when you guys first got started?
FRANKLYN: I knew that I was funny, pretty witty and a good storyteller. But I didn’t know that this outside world existed. I’m growing up in Utah, and my mom literally made my Facebook account and my Instagram account for me. She said, “Why are you not participating with the rest of the world?” And to me, it was this. Besides drinking and skiing, I don’t know what else you do in Utah. So, I just thought the podcast was so incredible, and it was something so different. It was what I wanted so badly when I was living in Utah. For me, it was like, “You get to be a person and be creative.”
Q8: The podcast has this meteoric rise, and you’re experiencing it all. Was there a moment when you realized that you had made it?
FRANKLYN: If I had to pick one singular moment, it was Alex and I sitting at this Greek restaurant on the Lower East Side, and these girls came up to us. Not only did they say, “Are you the ‘Call Her Daddy’ girls?,” but they asked for a picture and said, “Oh my God! Sofia! Alex!” That was one of the first times something like that happened. For the first little while, and I have never said this, people would actually look at us and say, “Barstool girls!” But then, when the show became the most massive thing on the planet, then people started calling us by our names.
Q9: You wrote about how sudden fame takes a toll on everyone. You’ve been open about your past self, whether it was the drinking, the cocaine, the sex, everything. How do you think sudden fame affected you, Sofia?
FRANKLYN: For better or for worse, fame never changed my personality, and I’m being honest when I say that. It’s not even like me trying to put a PR spin on it. I’m still the exact same Sofia that I was. I’m not that Sofia who thought she was smoking crack, and then figured it out it was meth. But the fame has never changed how I view the world, how I behave. Maybe the success piece has been validation for me, but I don’t really look or think or behave differently.
Q10: That partnership with Barstool changed the trajectory for you and Alex in a couple different ways. It’s well-documented how you feel about Dave Portnoy now, but what was it like at first getting into business with Barstool and Dave back then?
FRANKLYN: At Barstool, I was like an alien. It felt as if I had landed on a different planet. Me coming from Morgan Stanley, I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around how this is an office where people are throwing shit at each other and screaming obscenities. It was also a lot of dudes.
Dave surprised me because he wasn’t as wild as you see online. He wasn’t like that, which I guess makes sense, right? That’s not to say he was fake. I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but I actually liked him as a boss. I respected how he let us have full creative freedom, and if he didn’t like something, it was an open conversation. That’s what it was. He was then tearing us to bits, but I respect that much more than being phony.
Q11: I’ve read about how you and Alex had different ideas in terms of branding deals and ownership over your brand, even about leaving Barstool and how Alex still saw value in staying there for much more money. How do you think money complicates friendships?
FRANKLYN: I want to correct you on one thing, and this is the biggest misconception. I didn’t look at the deal and say, “This is not good enough, and I’m walking.” I looked at the deal and I said, “We have leverage, and national gaming is about to purchase Barstool.” Dave has publicly said we’re the biggest show there, and he said we’re paying for all of the employees at Barstool’s salaries, which, I gotta hand it to him, was probably true. I just didn’t want us to roll over on deal points when I knew we didn’t have to. But I was willing to stay, and I was willing to work it out.
I can’t really separate the money and the fame. Although I don’t think fame changed me, I think we, as two women, were being compared 24/7. When you start negotiating, you start to think to yourself, “OK, well now I need to think about this in terms of what value do I bring, and what value does she bring?” Money impacts all relationships. The second you start making money, even when it’s with family members, it just changes the dynamic, for sure.
I’m not that Sofia who thought she was smoking crack, and then figured it out it was meth. But the fame has never changed how I view the world, or how I behave.
Q12: You recently told The New York Times that you were so broken that you did not want to be in public, and that you just wanted to disappear after falling out with Alex and getting cut out of the podcast. What kind of trauma was that for you as it was happening?
FRANKLYN: Well, this is where I’m going to say go buy Daddy Issues because I really take people to where my head was. When we were on our second or third draft, my editor was like, “Yeah, we gotta come out of the darkness at some point, we need to get out of here.” But to your point, friendship breakups are universal and are arguably more shattering or more traumatic, at least for me, than a romantic breakup and betrayal. I’m not gonna say finding out your husband’s cheating isn’t bad, but I found safety in women. It’s very clear in the book. “Men ain’t shit” was the theory, so to be betrayed like that by someone that close to me—even now, I don’t think my brain has fully grasped why or what or how this happened.
Q13: I was really struck how open you’ve been about the abortion you had in 2023. What did you learn about yourself from that experience, and how did that change you?
FRANKLYN: I want to make this joke, but I’m not gonna do it because my publicist, and probably the world, is never gonna forgive me. When I decided to have an abortion, it wasn’t just like no questions asked. In the book, maybe it seems that way, but it made me have to look at my life and take it seriously because it was this moment of “If you’re gonna do this, then what are you going to do differently in life?” These are consequences—real-life, serious consequences—so if we’re gonna have an abortion, there needs to be real change. It woke me up, basically.
Q14: For people who have followed you through your journey as a public figure, it feels like you’re trying to shed this persona that people had in their heads of you as this uninhibited party girl who would do anything for a good time. How much do you think you have grown up in these last eight years?
FRANKLYN: Damn, eight years! You’re so right, and I’ve been doing quite a few interviews, and there’s only been one other person who has spoken to that. I am shedding, like a snake shedding its skin, but I am still the same Sofia. I’m still irreverent. But I’ve healed a lot. If anyone wants to heal any part of themselves, you should have a huge public scandal where the world hates you, and then write a book about it in detail, uncovering that trauma. I’ve just grown up. I’ve had to do the work, and I put in the work. I told my therapist I’ve been seeing for five years that I’m healed and I don’t need to do therapy anymore. She was like, “No, that’s not what that means.”
I’m still the same Sofia, but I can be multi-faceted. I can be smart. I can have a perspective. I can write. I can have a brain. I can still be a little bit chaotic, but also calm and centered. I feel now that I’m working in alignment with myself. Because I was so detached for such a long time.
Q15: You’ve said you found yourself missing Alex while writing this book. Do you still think that friendship with Alex was genuine?
FRANKLYN: I don’t know. I want whoever reads the book to tell me what they think because I don’t know. It was genuine for me. I don’t know if it was for her. Maybe it was genuine to her, but she views what friendship means very, very differently.
Q16: You have acknowledged that you expect blowback from Alex and her very loyal fans for speaking out about the past, and that there’s anxiety that comes with that. How do you deal with that kind of anxiety? Do you bottle it up or say, “Fuck it, I don’t care?”
FRANKLYN: Anytime I start to get anxiety, I think to myself, “Could it be as bad as it was six years ago?” And I don’t think it can. The other piece is I that have been far enough removed from it, and I’ve stayed silent, so this is now my story that I get to tell. I’m not doing something wrong by doing that.
I’ve been frozen in time as the party girl, so there was this disconnect. People are still like, “That’s not the Sofia we know.” There’s gonna be a little anxiety, but it’s well worth it.
Q17: You’re married, you’ve got your own podcast and you have this book coming out. How would you describe your life right now, and what do you ultimately want to do next?
FRANKLYN: When I was writing the book, it reminded me of like the OG “Call Her Daddy” days, where it was a flow state for me. It’s so cringe to just say “flow state,” but this next era is me being me, and I’m not walking around hiding something or shying away from my story. It’s taking full ownership of that story.
Q18: I read about how you’re tossing around the idea of a possible cooking show, or even a podcast about someone who you say is a stalker. What would those projects look like?
I am shedding, like a snake shedding its skin, but I am still the same Sofia. I’m still irreverent. But I’ve healed a lot.
FRANKLYN: I love how some of these are true things, and specifically the show about my stalker. That was a creative project that I actually began pursuing because he is the most charismatic person that anyone will ever hear. I know that’s not what I’m supposed to say about my stalker, but he is! (laughs) He should have a podcast. He is hilarious. He is insightful. I did want to do this kind of dark comedy—Dateline meets Girls—so I think that might have to be my next project.
Q19: After writing this tell-all memoir, and and rehashing everything, can you move forward now from what happened with Alex? Do you want to move forward?
FRANKLYN: Yes. Even just writing this book, I already feel and act differently. Even going outside my apartment, my social anxiety is down 10 levels. I didn’t realize how much it was kind of always there, so now I am just very free and empowered.
Q20: In pop culture, people are always going to be historically linked to other people, for better or worse, for the rest of their lives. Are you OK with being connected to Alex, probably for the rest of your life, and being asked about her for years to come?
FRANKLYN: I’m OK with it now. She is such a big part of my story, and I am to hers. When you try to deny your story, you’re not living truthfully, and that doesn’t feel good. I’ve tried for a very long time to separate and bury it, and that was in the past. Once I came to terms with how this is part of my story, my whole life shifted for the better.
