Newtown’s Alex Cooper Accuses BU Soccer Coach Of Sexual Harassment In New Doc, Podcast

Alex Cooper, host of the wildly popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, is speaking out about what she describes as a years-long pattern of sexual harassment and psychological manipulation by her college soccer coach.

Alex Cooper Instagram

Cooper, a Pennsylvania native and Boston University alum, made the allegations on the Monday, June 16 episode of Dax Shepard’s

“Armchair Expert” podcast,

where she discussed the experience in greater depth.

The story is also at the center of the newly released Hulu documentary “Call Her Alex,” which hit the streaming platform on Tuesday, June 10.

While Cooper does name the coach on the podcast, she does so sparingly. The coach was Nancy Feldman, who served as head of Boston University’s Division I women’s soccer team until her retirement in 2022.

In response to the allegations, BU

issued a statement to USA Today

earlier this month:

Cooper, however, described a much different reality, one where she felt powerless under Feldman’s control.

“This woman owned me,” Cooper, 30, said on the podcast, reflecting on her time as a student-athlete on a full scholarship. “Anything she told me to do, I had to do. I worked my entire life to get there. I just kicked into fight-or-flight survival mode.”

As Cooper begins recounting her story to Shepard and co-host Monica Padman, she breaks down in tears. Shepard gently reassures her that it’s a natural reaction, especially for someone used to controlling the narrative.

Cooper enrolled at BU to study film and television. A former standout at The Pennington School in Mercer County, NJ, she was also a Division I soccer recruit, and thrilled to be playing for a female coach for the first time.

But what started as admiration, she says, soon turned into something controlling and toxic.

“Freshman year it felt normal,” Cooper said. “But sophomore year everything changed.”

She recalled one incident when the coach confronted her about being dropped off by a male student.

“She looked at me and said, ‘Did you have sex last night?'” Cooper said. “I had no concept that’s what we were going to talk about.”

Cooper said private one-on-one meetings became frequent, often centered around her personal life instead of performance. Film sessions turned obsessive. Playing time became unpredictable. Teammates noticed. And as her independence grew, she said the coach’s behavior turned punitive.

Things came to a head during Cooper’s junior year, she said, when Feldman began insisting on driving her alone to night classes.

“I made up an excuse that I was sick,” Cooper recalled on the podcast. “I didn’t want to get in the car with that woman.”

When she skipped the class, she said, Feldman put her on probation.

The alleged harassment, Cooper said, derailed her soccer dreams — and nearly broke her.

“It was a really strange case of sexual harassment where it was attraction and resentment,” she said. “Because I knew it was going to get so much worse.”

Click here to listen to this week’s episode of the

“Armchair Expert”

podcast or stream the two-part docuseries “Call Her Alex” on Hulu.