Conservatives slam Alex Cooper after pregnancy announcement

Alex Cooper, host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy,” announced on Instagram on May 17 that she is expecting her first child with husband Matt Kaplan. The news has sparked sharp backlash from conservative figures and media outlets that have criticized her for pro

When Alex Cooper posted on Instagram on May 17 that she is expecting her first child, the announcement landed with a thud for some on the right.

Cooper, the “Call Her Daddy” host, is married to Matt Kaplan—someone she met in 2020. They tied the knot in 2024, when she was 29. Now, she and Kaplan are expecting their first child.

In the comments and across conservative media channels, the pregnancy triggered something harsher than disagreement. It became ammunition.

Cooper has been a fixture in podcasting since she launched “Call Her Daddy” with a cohost in 2018. A 2021 profile in Time described her as “arguably the most successful woman in podcasting. ” crediting her with drawing on her own experiences with men to offer sex and relationship advice. Her critics now say that advice encouraged choices they oppose.

The backlash moved fast. The Daily Wire. a right-leaning organization spearheaded by Ben Shapiro. posted on X: “Tell them marriage is stupid and life is about sleeping around with strangers. Then get married and have a baby.” The site also promoted a column titled. “Alex Cooper Told Women To Delay Settling Down. Now She’s Having The Fairytale Ending.”.

Political commentator Link Lauren then posted on X that Cooper “tells her audience to be promiscuous and have sex with strangers. ” while “she’s living the white picket fence dream with a traditional family.” Lauren added that “she needs the young girls who follow her to stay single and immature. otherwise her entire business model collapses. ” calling her a “fraud.”.

Conservative influencer Isabel Brown said on social media she was happy for women to experience motherhood. but bemoaned what she described as a broader pattern: “many influential women in America today have built multimillion dollar empires encouraging promiscuity. abortion. and avoiding marriage at all costs […] All while falling in love. getting married. and having babies themselves.”.

The fight here isn’t just about Cooper’s personal life. It’s about the message conservatives believe they’re losing as birthrates decline—an anxiety sharpened by the U.S. fertility rate hitting a record low.

The argument conservatives make is straightforward: the messenger has allegedly told young women to prioritize a lifestyle that—at least in the critics’ telling—delays or undermines marriage and children. In Cooper’s case, that tension is real on paper. The podcast that made her famous centered on dating and sex advice. while her new reality is a pregnancy and a traditional-family arc.

But the counterargument running through the criticism of the criticism is equally pointed. Cooper’s own supporters argue she ultimately did what many conservatives urge women to do—marry the man she found right for her and start a family.

That contrast also fuels a deeper dispute about how public figures should be judged for what they say versus what they choose. The defense presented is that Cooper’s critics are trying to score a point without persuading anyone at all—scoffing at the very decision they claim to want for women.

In her own story, Cooper’s timeline is difficult to ignore. She launched the podcast with a cohost in 2018, met Matt Kaplan in 2020, married in 2024 at age 29, and is now pregnant, announcing the news on May 17.

The question hanging over the entire exchange is why a conservative push to increase marriages and births is being met with a smear campaign when a woman who built a career on relationship talk announces that she’s having a baby.

Alex Cooper Call Her Daddy Matt Kaplan conservative backlash Daily Wire Ben Shapiro Link Lauren Isabel Brown Instagram announcement podcasting birthrates fertility rate