IYGOADTW: Coachella 2026, Alix Earle vs. Alex Cooper, and Justin Bieber's Return

Welcome back to my show, If You're Going On Date This Week, where I talk about everything going on in the world in terms of pop culture, music, movies, TV shows, sports, entertainment, really anything you could talk about on your date. These are also topics you can talk about with coworkers, with friends, with family, with your girlfriend, with your boyfriend, really anybody. It's just kind of like a ketchup show every Monday and Thursday.

The whole point of it started because I feel like it's really hard to know what to talk about on a date and using one of these topics is a good way to fall back on a conversation starter and have something to talk about or something to start talking about. So that is the purpose of the podcast. I do it every Monday and Thursday. This is the fourth week of the show. Happy first month of if you're going to date this week. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm having so much fun doing it. I hope you're having fun listening to it.

You can always comment and write in anything you want me to talk about any other topics that you think should be talked about and I'm happy to talk about them. I'll really talk about anything and I'll give you my opinion on them. So let's get into it. The first topic is Coachella was this past weekend. The headliners were Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Biebler, Justin Biebler and Carol G.

Sabrina headlined Friday, Justin Bieber Saturday and Carol G on Sunday. And then they also headline again weekend two. So this is weekend one of the festival. I wasn't invited, so I won't be there either weekend. I guess you can go. Tickets are so expensive. It honestly looks like a really crazy experience if you're just attending and not invited. There's kind of this hierarchy of Coachella that I've learned about over the past weekend. There's so much like content, so many videos.

from this festival specifically, feel like it's just like a very big cultural event. So I've learned so much about the mechanics or the politics, if you will, of this festival. And you're either like a VIP or like in the artist section, or you're just like a normie and you're like a normal person attending the festival. If you're a normal person attending the festival, like you're like shitting and showering in a porta potty, like you are like staying in a tent with your friends. It looks like a great time, like if you're a festival goer.

Josh Felgoise (02:14.35)

And it seems like it started off that way and it's become this like influencer fest. Like it's become this thing that it didn't start out as it was always like indie artists and like rock artists, I think. And now it's Sabrina Carpenter and like the biggest stage in the world. So it's really transitioned into this, much bigger cultural phenomenon than it started as. And, yeah, I've learned a lot about it. So that's what I know so far. Like I follow this one girl who does this thing called Arcella where she takes you through like.

her experience of Coachella like a normal person's and she's staying in like an RV in a tent with her friends. They're driving up, they're packing the tent and it does really seem like a fun experience. Not for me, for some people, for some people. Like if you enjoy like camping, if you enjoy like, I don't know, if you enjoy like bringing your toilet paper to the the porta potty and like hoping for the best then maybe it's for you. But I would much rather prefer to be invited with a like brand which a lot of people are invited with like there's

Alex Earl stays in a house. Jake Shane stayed in like a house with Poppy. Alex Earl had a house with her skincare brand. Like there's just a, there's a Magnum, not condom Magnum, the chocolate bar, getting myself into some hot water here. Like, you know, they, the chocolate ice cream bar, like that has a house, all these different brands have houses. There's guest jeans.

They invite influencers and it's just like, it's become like a marketing event as well. That's like the third layer to it. So it started out as this like festival for people to like go have fun, like smoke and get high probably. And now it's become like a marketing event. Haley Bieber and her company Road had a big activation there where they launched the pimple patches. They had a bunch of influencers. just, it's a whole thing. It's like a whole marketing land. And so that's that. Back to the performances.

Sabrina Carpenter headlined on Friday and the performance seemed incredible. The production value was insane. People are saying it was the most expensive production in all of Coachella history. I don't know if that's true or not, but I'm gonna go with it, because why not? And there was one moment in the set that she's getting a lot of heat for where somebody like, there's, someone did something kind of like a yodel where she thought it was a yodel. It's actually a Zara, fuck.

Josh Felgoise (04:29.468)

This is I don't want to become her hold on Sabrina carpenter. Whatever she got in some sort of controversy somebody did a No, I think I need to do it I think I need to find what it was because I think it might get me in trouble if I don't Sabrina carpenter Brina carpenter Zara

Okay, no, now we're getting Zara Larsson, Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina, and she had to respond basically and say, didn't know what that was. It just kind of was this moment that overshadowed the actual set and the performance that she's been rehearsing for for seven months. This like little off-handed moment where she's like talking to somebody in the audience. I don't know how the hell she can hear somebody in this audience. It's like an a hundred thousand person audience. And she does like engage with people at her concerts. So it was a very harmless moment where she just like misunderstood this thing, but it was like this like cultural,

misappropriation moment that she's kind of gotten heat for I don't know why she engaged with the audience either it just became this thing that the world is Tuesday since I don't know but Sabrina carpet her headlight on Friday the performance looked really insane by the way and I'm sure weekend two she won't engage with anybody in the audience because there's no need to and she worked really really hard at this thing and it looked amazing and That was Friday night other people who performed

Joe Jonas came out with Teddy Swims and sang When You Look Me In The Eyes. You know. Cat's Eye performed. They brought out the people who sing Golden. Like, we're going up, up, up. It's just like, it's just a real spectacle. Saturday night, Justin Bieber headlined Sombra, performed. People loved Sombra. Sombra announced a tour today. I want to go. It's in New York. He's headlining Madison Square Garden. It's really crazy.

That's the Taylor Swift effect people. Justin Bieber headlined Coachella Saturday and Justin's performance got a lot of immediate flack because it was being compared to Sabrina Carpenter's performance. You saw like this massive production from Sabrina Carpenter and then Justin Bieber was basically on his computer like searching YouTube videos and singing with his younger self. And it was this really cool moment where

Josh Felgoise (06:42.298)

He hasn't performed in a long time. He's obviously been through so much in his 20 year career. He was one of the most famous people at 13 years old to now 32 years old. And he's obviously been through an incredibly tumultuous career and a tumultuous life. think that's a good word for it. Tumultuous word of the day, word of the week. And basically he used this performance as like a love letter to the fans. It's kind of like what I saw it as.

to give them everything that they would wanna see from him. So he performed Baby, he performed, not never say never, he performed all those other songs, that should be me. He performed all those songs that I think they really wanted him to sing, as well as his new album Swag One and Swag Two. And there are these really awesome moments where he's looking back at his younger self singing and reclaiming or reconnecting to his younger self and all of his old music.

It's also now being reported that because, it's just, it's this is fact, but somebody brought it up and now he's running with it that, because he sold his music catalog when, I think it was this year, this past year, he sold his music catalog for like 200 to $300 million. So when he performs his old songs, it costs money. So to search them on YouTube and to sing with them, it costs nothing because that's the original music. He doesn't have to.

Pay the people who now own his music anything so it's also like a very cool workaround to sing his old songs without paying anything While at the same time being this really full circle moment for him and the fans so the diehard Beliebers are absolutely loving the performance the rest of the world is kind of comparing it to Sabrina Carpenter's I mean like look how much production she put into this look much effort she put into this like this like our set thousands of dancers thousands of sets changes and it's become this thing of like

If a woman did what Justin Bieber did, they would get such backlash, they would get so much shit for their performance. That's just kind of the gamut of what's going on online about Coachella. It's really, it's something. So follow along for weekend two. I'll be reporting on it. Carol G was the first Latina performer to headline Coachella. She did it last night. It also looked sick. So I'm happy for her, proud of her, happy for the Latina community.

Josh Felgoise (09:04.583)

weekend two is this weekend, so stay tuned for more. There will be a lot more stories on Monday. The second weekend is kind of like the normal person weekend. It's less of the influencers, less of the marketing, less of all of that. The first weekend is like the splash and the second weekend is like the real festival, which is kind of this cool thing that they've, I think it started off as one weekend and they split it up into two, because of how big it got, of course. So I'm assuming there'll be less headlines from weekend two. but still I'm sure it'll be huge again.

Also, it was reported that Justin Bieber made $10 million for the performance, which is insane. That's so much fucking money. The next story is that Rory McElroy won the Masters and he is the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods, so he's gonna become one of the greatest. If you're following the Masters, that's golf, by the way. I'm sure you know that, that was a joke. That was just too funny.

And then the next story is that the Artemis to mission came back to earth on I think Friday night they landed back down into the ocean it was called a smashdown slapdown splashdown a splashdown and that Artemis to mission just kind of was this really incredible like moment that everybody came together to Just for like a moment where everybody came together and was like this is fucking awesome like

One of those things that we don't get to see all the time in our lifetimes, it's the first moon mission in 50 years. And just this really cool moment where everybody came together and was like, this is amazing. Those astronauts dropped such gems of wisdom while they were up there. And they had such an incredibly worldly perspective about life and about everything that they were doing up there and seeing the world and seeing the earth. There's this interesting phenomenon that I learned about.

After astronauts come back down to earth, they have a lot of trouble like coming back to real life because nothing matters. And like their perspective is completely shifted after seeing the world and seeing earth and what it looks like and how small we are and how, how inconsequential everything we do is. I think that's very cool. It's just kind of interesting that that's what happens to them. So, again, I'm open to having an astronaut on here. If one of them read the commander wants to come on here, you are more than welcome. I'm.

Josh Felgoise (11:23.367)

We are welcoming you with open arms to either of my podcasts guys said or if they're going to date this week You're welcome to either of them. It would be very cool. So they came back down to earth in their splashdown I will miss that mission. I loved it I loved seeing everybody come together online and be celebrate this and just think it was the coolest thing ever and I agree I thought it was amazing and I can't wait till they go explore more. I want to go to the moon No, I don't the next one is that

Alex Earl verse Alex Cooper continues. Alex Cooper got on her phone today, this Monday morning and tagged Alex Earl in her post and was like, Hey girl, Hey Alex Earl. Um, basically to give you a summary of what is going on with Alex Earl verse Alex Cooper. Alex Earl joined Alex Cooper's Unwell Network as one of the first podcasters in 2023, I believe it was.

I remember when it happened. Everybody remembers when it happens. No, it's not that big of a deal. But like to me it was because I love podcasts. I love podcast news. So I was like, shit, this is a big, big deal. And at that point, Alex Earl was already a massive influencer, probably the biggest ever still is. And signing a podcast deal with Alex Cooper, also the biggest podcaster was just like the two biggest people coming together. And everybody at that same time was like, like, I don't know this is going to end well because like the two biggest people like.

can't really orbit the same earth. Like it's too much. It's too, it's too, too many powerhouses in one room. It turned out that it didn't go well. Alex left unwell. she had a show called hot mess. She had a podcast and she left unwell before her contract ended. She also did an episode on call her daddy where she kind of went into like her sex life in college. It was just kind of crazy to have like a 19 year old talk about like anal on like call her daddy at the time. It was just a little nuts.

so that is what happened. They went back to her hometown. They talked about Alex's stepmom and Alex's family has a kind of crazy history where the step mom, was the madam for the stepdad, involved with this guy named Elliot Spitzer in New York who was in jail now. there's just a whole story and I'm sure they'll go into it on their Netflix show. If you're interested, I can do a deeper dive on it.

Josh Felgoise (13:45.175)

but basically there's a lot of like family history there and I feel like, or the, the rumor mill is kind of loud with the fact that Alex Earl felt used by Alex Cooper and exploited in sharing her story and wanted some of the stuff cut. Alex didn't cut it. and Alex didn't Earl, I should say Earl and Cooper cause it's so confusing. The fact that they're both Alex's of course they're both Alex's.

Earl felt exploited and her dad came in and started managing her. I thought the deal was bad her podcast deals So she got he got her out of the deal and she left the deal early Cooper gave Earl back all her IP which is what happened with Cooper and Dave Portnoy with call her daddy so Cooper kind of came out as this like I'll give you everything back And we never really heard what happened and why there was beef why Earl left

But recently Earl has started like reposting something. She reposted this video from this girl talking in her car about how Alex Cooper is basically an ambulance chaser of the podcast industry and she exploits people in their lowest moments and in the stories and the lowest points of their lives for her own financial gain and for her own podcast gain. And that isn't really a great point because that is what Oprah has done. That's what everybody has done. Like that is

what media outlets do. They get the biggest stories because people are interested in them. People want to hear from them and they put out an interview with them. So Cooper is just another cog in that machine. She's not the inventor of exploitative, exploitative, exploitative media or having people on to talk about their salacious stories or moments in their lives. Like she's not the inventor of this. So to blame her for this or to put all of the onus on her for

exploiting people's lives is not a fair point. And Earl reposted that video. So Alex Earl reposted that to her TikTok. And of course, because she reposted it, the video blew up. So I think that is why Cooper felt the need to respond. So this morning, Alex Cooper gets on her TikTok. That's kind of the backstory. There's obviously a beef between the two of them. Nobody really knows what the beef is. Everybody's kind of...

Josh Felgoise (16:02.457)

assuming it's about the podcast, assuming it's about the exploitation of Call Her Daddy or something with the deal or something with the finances. They also shared a publicist previously and then the publicist left Cooper and went to Earl's. There's got to be something there. Her name is Kate Bailey. There's a lot going on and I find it incredibly fascinating because it's two of the biggest like media moguls right now, two of the biggest influences in the world hate each other and they're both named Alex. So Cooper gets on this morning and she's like, hi, Alex Earl.

If you something to say to me, say it like stop reposting shit, stop hiding behind shit, stop just liking random comments. Like you obviously have something you want to say. So say it like, you know what happened. I know what happened. There's no NDA. There's nothing you can't say. So if there's something you want to say, say it to me because I'm so sick of waking up to all of these DMS and all these things. And I never thought Cooper would respond to this. This has always been a thing that's going on in the background. Like people are always talking about it and it's obviously gotten big enough that Cooper has felt the need to respond.

Which is incredibly interesting that like this is gonna happen or this has happened. So what is Cooper or what is Earl now gonna do? Nobody knows And I will be following along because I think it's incredibly interesting and it's just kind of nuts like it is a nuts thing that's going on Online with one of the biggest podcasters in the world and one of the biggest influences in the world and the fact that they were once like a unit and now they Hate each other very apparently

Dave Portnoy has gotten involved, he's thrown his hat in the ring, he has tried to give his explanation of what's going on and he's talking, he's saying what he knows. But that is kind of the summary of it and people are taking sides of course. Some people are big Alex Earl fans, some people are big Cooper fans, some people think this was kind of a, what's the word, everyone's like.

Cooper, you're 32, like it's, I don't know if that point is fair or relevant, but the fact that Earl was reposting this stuff, Cooper has every right to respond. So for people to say that she's, I don't know the right word for it, but if she's like, whatever. For people to say that she can't respond is not fair, and she has every right to respond. If Earl's gonna drag her name through the mud, Cooper has every right to fire back.

Josh Felgoise (18:17.847)

So Earl lit the flame and Cooper has poured lighter fluid on it and said, come to the bonfire with me. Let's see what happens. The next story is that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are supposedly getting married on July 4th in New York City. That's just the rumor mill. People are saying that, who knows, but they might get married sometime soon. I'm sure they're get married. They're engaged. So like, why wouldn't they get married? But I'm sure we'll know. When we know.

When you know, know, and when they know, when we know, you'll know. Those are the stories. Those are the things that you could talk about on your date this week. Thank you so much for listening to If You're Going On Date This Week. If there are any topics I missed or anything you want me to cover, anything that you think you could talk about on a date, there is an Ask Me Anything on my website, guyset.com. Guyset is my other podcast. It's basically answering the questions that guys are asking.

This week was my 150th episode. you like this, you're gonna love that, I really think. I talk about everything from dating and comparison and confidence and style and mindset and really everything that guys are asking and wondering about and I do an Ask Me Anything on there every third week as well. So you can go on my website, guyset.com and ask me anything to talk about too for this podcast as well. You can watch this full episode on YouTube at guyset, G-U-I-S-E-T.

And have fun on your date this week. I will see you on Thursday. I totally forgot. I wanted to talk about the summer house drama. The summer house drama has continued. I just popped back on. I started recording again. It was my fifth or sixth point. The summer house drama continues. This woman, woman. Yeah, woman. Amanda Batula. Yeah, she's fully a woman. I don't know why I questioned that. Amanda Batula, who is one of the main cast members on summer house.

put out and she was the one who got with her best friend's ex-boyfriend. She put out a statement on Friday on Instagram being like, I'm gonna start living my life again. I'm gonna start posting Instagram again, like for my mental health. Like, yeah, so sorry. And I've apologized to people I'm supposed to apologize to. And then she went out in New York City and was spotted with the guy. So she just like fucking quadrupled down on it and was like, yeah. So she went out to like this place called Blind Tiger. She went out to Emmet's on Grove.

Josh Felgoise (20:35.833)

She was out on the town wearing like a headscarf trying to cover up. So everyone's like you put on an Instagram story Apologizing just to go out in the West Village and get like like half off beer Like what the fuck are you doing? So that's just a continuation of the summer house drama thought I should share I don't even know why I hop back on here to tell you that I feel like it's not that relevant but like here we are so While we're at it, let me just see if there's anything else that I want to talk to you about Let me just Google pop culture news Just make sure I cover all my bases

feel like I did. What else is there? Britney Spears voluntarily checked into a treatment facility. Sorry to hear that. Not happy to hear that. If you read the book The Housemaid, the author Frieda McFadden revealed her real identity. I think her name is Sarah Cohen or something like that. And there are.

Let's just check out like new. no, a con is a documentary coming out tonight. It's called Out of Body and it's on Netflix and I'm so excited to talk about it and I will talk about it on Thursday. I will be watching it. I'll be recapping it. Euphoria season three. What the fuck am I doing? Euphoria season three came out last night and it was absolutely insane. I did not like it, to be fully honest with you. It was so crazy. After four years of waiting for this show to come back, it came back with.

one of the most insane plot lines I've ever seen. It's like the show used to be about high school and now it is like Narcos. Like it is so crazy what they've done with the place. The kids are not all right. The kids are so far from all right. Zendaya's acting in the show is unbelievable. Like she is carrying the show on her back. Like I wanna make sure, I wanna check in on her and ask her how she's feeling, how her back is, if she's okay. Zendaya, if you're hearing this, if you're seeing this.

Please make sure to ice your back before next week because you are fucking carrying this shit. The fact that Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, all of these like major players in Hollywood, like Oscar nominated, like Emmy award winning, actors who are really big names in Hollywood are coming back to this show after four years is so crazy and like degrading themselves like by like putting like, it's just, it's nuts. It's really nuts and anxiety inducing. And I'm just watching that being like, I'm watching the show like,

Josh Felgoise (22:56.601)

So that's Euphoria season three. I will probably be watching every week Although I did not like the first episode there's eight episodes and I've already committed two seasons of the show So I will you know, I'm just gonna I'm gonna finish it. I want to see what happens I want to know how they ended and like it just it can't really get worse than where we're at. I'm sure it can I'm sure it will But that's that on that. I think that's everything Thank you for listening and have fun on your date this week, and I'll see you on Thursday