Sofia Franklyn’s memoir Daddy Issues is due Tuesday, and the book opens with an allegation that Matt Kaplan tried to shut it down before it reached readers. Franklyn says the fallout could reach beyond the page, with her family and husband among the people she fears could be dragged into the fight.
Last week, reported that Kaplan allegedly called Franklyn’s agent screaming after learning she was writing the book, said her story was false and claimed Alex Cooper would sue. Franklyn said nothing further came of the alleged threat, but the reported opening sets the tone for a memoir being read less like celebrity backstory and more like a dispute over who controls the narrative.
Tuesday and the book’s stakes
Tuesday is the release date for Daddy Issues, which gives the reported dispute immediate commercial weight. Franklyn said on Dear Media’s The Bossticks podcast that “I have heard that some people mentioned in the book — some main characters in my book — are working very hard to discredit this story,” and added, “I thought I was bulletproof,” before saying, “and then I started to think, ‘How dirty are they gonna play?’”
She went further: “I’m talking about Alex and Matt. Hi. And if you’re listening, hi. How dirty are they gonna play it, where are they gonna, like, go after people I love? That I do not like. If my family, if my husband becomes collateral, that actually scares me, and I thought I was gonna go into this process being like two middle fingers in the air.” That is the kind of sentence that can shape how a memoir is read before anyone turns the page.
Unwell and Verve
Unwell told that Kaplan never discussed the book’s claims or any intent to sue the author with Verve, which directly complicates the alleged threat described at the start of the memoir. Franklyn also said she worries about “how dirty Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan might play it,” a line that turns the launch into a test of whether the people named in the book answer publicly or let the story move without them.
Franklyn and Cooper fell out in 2020 around the time Franklyn exited the Barstool Sports fold after contentious contract negotiations, and Cooper walked away with full ownership of the show’s intellectual property. That history is why this book already has more than one audience: readers, industry players, and anyone watching to see whether the memoir travels beyond print into film or TV.
Hollywood heat around Daddy Issues
Sources say Daddy Issues is gaining traction in Hollywood as a potential film or TV project, and one knowledgeable source said there is “a ton of heat” around the memoir. Page Six previously reported that Simon & Schuster kept the book under Fort Knox-level lock and key, while another report said people around Alex Cooper were calling for details ahead of release.
For now, the practical next step is simple: the book lands Tuesday, and the public reaction from the people named in it will tell readers whether this stays a memoir launch or becomes a longer fight over reputation, control and adaptation rights. Franklyn has already said she expects attempts to discredit the story; the real test is whether the book’s opening allegation becomes the headline, or just the first page.
