Alex Cooper is opening up about alleged sexual harassment during her college years.
In a new documentary, the “Call Her Daddy” podcast host claimed she was harassed by former Boston University soccer coach Nancy Feldman. Cooper played for the college’s women’s soccer team between 2013 and 2015, per the university’s website.
Cooper, 30, made the allegations in her new docuseries, Call Her Alex, which premiered Sunday, June 8, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and streams on Hulu beginning Tuesday, June 10.
Cooper claimed in the documentary that Feldman began to “fixate on me, way more than any other teammate of mine” during her sophomore year, describing the alleged experience as “confusing.”
“[It] was all based in her wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body and her always wanting to be alone with me,” she said, according to People.
Us Weekly has reached out to Boston University and Feldman for comment.
“It was this psychotic game of, ‘You want to play? Tell me about your sex life,’” Cooper described one alleged incident. She also claimed that Feldman told her, “I have to drive you to your night class. Get in the car with me alone.”
Cooper said in the doc, “I felt so deeply uncomfortable,” but she said she felt she couldn’t speak out at the time because “I was attending BU on a full-tuition scholarship. If I didn’t follow this woman’s rules, I was gone.”
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The podcaster said she ultimately told her parents about the alleged harassment at the time. Her parents contacted a lawyer, who advised that the college would likely drag out a legal case for years, per People. She also said that BU officials did not take any action when presented with written documentation detailing her alleged encounters with Feldman.
During a Q&A following the premiere of her new documentary, Cooper described the experience as “frustrating.”
“I want to tell women to come forward and say it, but I did, and I wasn’t believed, and then it took me a decade,” she said.
“I’m not ashamed that it took me 10 years,” Cooper continued. “But it makes me question a lot, and I think this documentary, as difficult as it was to explore, I actually think this is just the beginning. … It’s really opened my eyes to how difficult the system is, and it’s so built against us as women.”
Cooper studied film and television at BU, graduating in 2017. Feldman retired from the college’s athletics department in 2022 after 27 years of coaching.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
