Alex Cooper is reportedly shutting down her drinks brand, Unwell Beverages, less than two years after entering the marketplace.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday, August 13, that Cooper’s company will release new Halloween-themed drinks later this year before ceasing “production across all of the brand’s line of beverages,” citing sources familiar with the situation.
Target, Unwell’s main distributor, is selling through its stock, according to the outlet.
Cooper and Nestlé launched Unwell Beverages as Unwell Hydration in early 2025, initially selling hydration and recovery drinks targeted to women. Last year, the brand expanded into energy drinks.
Us has reached out to Cooper’s representative, Nestlé and Target for comment.
The “Call Her Daddy” podcast host, 31, announced her move into the beverage industry while appearing at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in December 2024.
“What could be my first consumer product? Probably something that would make the most sense would be that it could integrate into your unwell lifestyle,” she said at the time, referencing her Unwell media company.
“Every time I went to pick up an energy drink or any type of hydration drink, it’s all catered to men,” she continued.
Earlier this week, Cooper’s Unwell media company announced a “strategic investment” from Patrick Whitesell’s investment firm WTSL, which valued Unwell at $500 million. Cooper cofounded the company with her husband, Matt Kaplan, in 2023.
In June, Cooper broke her silence about alleged turmoil at Unwell following a Vanity Fair exposé that accused Kaplan of “wreaking havoc and making people cry” at the company.
“I will say that building a startup, there is so much growth that comes with that, and I am extremely proud of what we have built at Unwell,” Cooper told Wall Street Journal editor Suzanne Vranica at Journal House in Cannes, France. “I will just kind of leave it at ‘don’t believe everything that you read on the internet’ — but I think everyone knows that at this point.”
“I think if you walk the halls, there are so many people that are so happy to work at this company,” Cooper continued. “I think, unfortunately, being a woman in this industry is extremely difficult because you’re held to a completely different standard. Whether it’s a smear campaign being created for someone’s narrative, whatever it be.”
She added, “I think when you read lies about yourself to fuel something else that is an obvious situation going on, it’s hard, but I think the reason that I’ve had success in this industry is I have really thick skin, and I’m going to keep pushing forward.”
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