Who Is Sofia Franklyn's Boyfriend, Peter Nelson? HBO Exec At Center Of 'Call Her Daddy' Barstool Drama
The drama has been real around this podcast lately.
Youtube Listeners of the Barstool Sports podcast "Call Her Daddy" already know that there's been some serious drama around the podcast lately, bringing hosts Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn into the spotlight.
Along with the headlines about the hosts has been plenty of buzz about Franklyn's boyfriend... and it seems like he might be at the center of the drama.
Who is Sofia Franklyn's boyfriend, Peter Nelson?
And how is he involved in this bonkers situation? This is what you need to know.
"Call Her Daddy" stopped airing new episodes after contract disputes.
After there had been no new episodes of the podcast since April, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to the podcast himself to share an episode he'd recorded rehashing what went on behind the scenes. According to Portnoy, Cooper and Franklyn wanted to be free to take on book deals and TV deals to make more money off of their fame while retaining the podcast as their intellectual property, which Portnoy saw as “unprofessional, disloyal, and greedy." However, this led to individual negotiations between Barstool and Cooper as well as Barstool and Franklyn, but so far, it doesn't seem like they've been able to make any progress with either host.
Franklyn's boyfriend was reportedly trying to find a new contract for her and Cooper.
In the midst of the renegotiations, Portnoy revealed that Peter Nelson, who is currently dating Franklyn, had been acting as their manager, trying to find other deals for them behind Barstool Sports' back. According to Portnoy, Nelson had even retained lawyers and had found the women a deal with Wondery — something that Cooper filled Portnoy in on separately. Now, Franklyn and Cooper seem to be at odds since Cooper acted as an informant on what Nelson had been doing behind the scenes.
“He was trying to manipulate the situation,” Portnoy said on the podcast. “To me, Sofia mixed business and pleasure.”
But who is Sofia Franklyn's boyfriend? Peter Nelson is the executive vice president of HBO Sports.
Nelson is a 38-year-old higher-up at HBO Sports who lives in New York and has been acting as executive vice president since 2015. Portnoy shared on the podcast that he believes that Nelson has used his role at HBO to show Barstool in a negative light in a past segment of Real Sports, though HBO denies this.
“The Real Sports profile of Barstool Sports was generated by the producer and correspondent with supervision by the Real Sports senior production team," said a statement from the network. "From the moment the segment idea was presented to the senior Real Sports production team, Peter Nelson removed himself from any involvement. He had no involvement in the segment. Never reviewed copy or video.”
He's been referred to on the podcast as "suit man."
"Call Her Daddy" listeners are likely familiar with Nelson being called "suit man," which is what Franklyn calls him when she mentions him on the podcast to help retain a little of his privacy (though that obviously didn't quite work out). Not much is known about their relationship, since they don't seem to speak about each other publicly, but it seems like they've been dating each other for at least a year at this point.
Fans on Twitter aren't impressed by Nelson's role in the drama.
Hate tweets about Nelson have been rolling in, with many fans blaming him for the downfall of their favorite podcast.
"It’s funny how @callherdaddy is about how much boys suck and how much we don’t need them. But A BOY ruined this all for them. Suit man aka Peter Nelson you suck," one fan tweeted.
So far, Cooper and Franklyn haven't spoken out.
Since the podcast episode where Portnoy shared his thoughts, Franklyn and Cooper have stayed quiet on the situation and have yet to respond — and Nelson hasn't commented, either. Hopefully, some answers are on the way ... and so is an update on what will happen to "Call Her Daddy" in the future. People need to know!
Nicole Pomarico is an entertainment and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Cosmo, Us Weekly, Refinery29, and more.