Alex Cooper’s Unwell Beverages to Shut Down as Media Company Reaches $500 Million Valuation

Alex Cooper’s Unwell beverage business is shutting down after launching in 2025 through a partnership with Nestlé and distributing its products at Target stores. The company plans to release additional Halloween-season flavors before ending production across the beverage line, people familiar with the plans told Fortune.

Target is selling through its remaining inventory, according to those people, who were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly. The closure ends a short consumer-products experiment for Cooper, whose main business remains tied to her podcast and broader Unwell media operation.

Unwell began as Unwell Hydration, positioning Cooper’s audience around a branded drink business. The launch connected a high-profile creator, a major food and beverage company, and a national retail chain in a distribution model built around Cooper’s reach.

That arrangement gave Unwell access to Nestlé’s consumer-products infrastructure and Target’s stores, while Cooper supplied the audience and cultural visibility. The decision to sell Halloween flavors before production ends indicates that the brand is clearing its remaining commercial schedule rather than expanding the line into a longer product program.

The beverage shutdown comes as Cooper’s broader Unwell company receives new investment at a $500 million valuation. Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell invested through WTSL, a firm he leads and that is backed by Silver Lake, according to Fortune.

Cooper and her husband, Matt Kaplan, founded Unwell in 2023 to build on the audience of Call Her Daddy. The company is directing the new capital toward video and consumer products, while the beverage closure narrows one part of that consumer strategy. The investment places Unwell among creator-led companies trying to turn a successful media identity into a larger entertainment and commerce business.

Unwell’s exit highlights the gap between audience popularity and repeat purchases in physical retail. A podcast can generate loyalty through regular storytelling and direct fan relationships, while a beverage must win shelf space, satisfy retail economics, maintain production volume, and persuade customers to buy again without the host’s presence in every interaction.

Nestlé’s partnership and Target’s distribution offered scale, but scale also exposes a product to ordinary consumer comparisons on price, taste, packaging, and availability. Cooper’s case shows how creator-led diversification can remain valuable as a media strategy even when a specific product line does not continue.

The beverage closure leaves Unwell’s media ambitions intact while changing the company’s product mix. Cooper’s podcast audience, video plans, and partnerships remain central to the business, and Whitesell’s investment gives the company fresh backing for that expansion.

The $500 million valuation also raises the stakes for future consumer launches. Investors are valuing Unwell as a broader media company, not solely as a beverage label, so future products will be judged against the company’s ability to convert attention into durable businesses. The end of the drinks line makes that distinction clear.

Unwell’s immediate next step is to sell through remaining beverage inventory and complete its planned Halloween offerings before production stops. Neither the supplied reporting nor the available company details establish a public explanation for the shutdown or specify whether Nestlé will participate in future products.

The company’s next phase will center on video, media expansion, and consumer products under the new investment structure. For Cooper, the episode closes one retail venture while preserving the larger bet: building a diversified entertainment business around the audience that made Call Her Daddy a major podcast brand.