The Brett Cooper show banner. 

Courtesy | YouTube

 

Conservative commentator Brett Cooper released the first episodes of her new independent show, “The Brett Cooper Show,” this week and it’s been a smashing success, with her first episode receiving 3.4 million views since its premiere.

Cooper, a 23-year-old University of California, Los Angeles graduate and self-proclaimed “professional yapper, aspiring farmer,” rose to fame after signing with The Daily Wire and producing the YouTube show “The Comments Section” from March 2022 to December 2024. The account amassed a following of more than 4.5 million YouTube subscribers at its peak, and within that time, Cooper produced an average of three 7-14 minute videos daily, all focused on recent internet trends, social or political events, and people’s reactions via the comments section.

Cooper announced her departure from The Daily Wire in December, and while she never gave an exact reason for leaving, she assured fans the company had not fired her and it was her own decision to leave. Details concerning Cooper’s exit are still scarce, but fans online have speculated that Cooper’s former producer, Reagan Conrad, had a role in pushing Cooper out the door. 

Conrad, who was the maid of honor in Cooper’s March 2024 wedding, had been hosting occasional episodes of “The Comments Section” as early as October and in Cooper’s video announcing her departure, she revealed Conrad would take over the show. Some fans speculated The Daily Wire offered Conrad a lucrative deal to replace Cooper, but the company has not addressed these claims. 

For her part, Cooper hasn’t publicly discussed any of these claims, but shortly before her exit, Cooper unfollowed Conrad on Instagram and deleted most posts with Conrad, leading fans to believe there had been a rift between Cooper and Conrad.

Cooper, however, was able to carry over a large number of fans to her new channel after her split with The Daily Wire. The new account, which had minimal subscribers when the channel launched in December, currently has 1.29 million subscribers — nearly double the amount since she posted her first video last week.

In her new show, Cooper continues to address current events, but relies less on the comments to dictate the path of each video and focuses on providing more thought-provoking responses.

“My goal with this show is to foster understanding, to go deeper and extract substance in the stories and issues that matter most to us, the issues that impact us on a daily, personal basis,” Cooper said in the video. 

With her new show, Cooper said she hopes to take a slower pace, which she said means the show will not chase the news cycle as much and will produce less-frequent but longer videos, something she hopes will benefit her audience.

“I want to make sure that every single video I put out leaves you feeling more confident or empowered or smarter or more inquisitive about the world,” Cooper said.

Junior Anna Teply said she thinks Cooper’s approach to the new show will be beneficial to her audience and, as a result, will continue to grow in popularity.

“The longer format is great because it allows her to dive in depth on topics, especially topics that have more nuance and detail than she was able to previously cover in her shorter 10-15 minute videos,” Teply said. “Similarly, I think the slightly slower pace of updates will also allow her to provide a fuller sense of the picture on the topics that she covers.”

Teply said she is excited for Cooper’s return and to see her further delve into cultural and political topics.

“Brett’s personality is one of the main draws for her audience,” Teply said. “I think that this show allows her to show off her personality even more with the complete creative control that she has over it.”

In her pilot episode, Cooper discussed the toxic cancel culture on the Right, and the frustration those of the right erroneously expressed toward people formerly of the Left who have crossed over to the other side.

“Isn’t the goal to change people’s minds and bring them over to the other side and show them the light?” Cooper asked. “That is what my goal is.”

Cooper discussed brands like Bud Light and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, as well as politicians including Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have all embraced ideas of the Left at one point, but have made reforms.

Even President Donald Trump, Cooper noted, is a former Democrat and made many mistakes in his first term as president, especially surrounding COVID-19, Cooper said. Yet Cooper said people have “gotten over” many of the mistakes Trump made in his first time in office and are optimistic about his second term.

Cooper’s transition into “The Brett Cooper Show” appears to be a coming-of-age milestone for Cooper. Known for wearing headphones in every episode of “The Comments Section,” Cooper went headphoneless for both new episodes, and it’s a look that suits her well. It’s less juvenile and more in line with the sleek yet classy vibes to which Cooper’s new show aspires.

Cooper’s new studio has a homey feel to it — perhaps because it is recorded in a room in her house — and it feels more mature than her previous set. Cooper recognizes she’s not a college-aged woman any longer, and as such, she has made branding and design decisions to reflect that, which will allow her to reach a broader audience.

The second episode of “The Brett Cooper Show” released on Monday had 2.3 million views as of Wednesday, despite its 44-minute run-time. In it, Cooper argued why she thought actress Blake Lively ruined her career in accusing co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and running a public smear campaign. Cooper hosted Jared Sharpransky, founder of the marketing and strategy group The Movement Lab, to discuss his take on the situation as well as the social media response to the scandal.

Teply said she thinks the added element of hosting guests, as Cooper did on her second episode, is an example of how Cooper’s longer episodes and shorter turnaround time will benefit her audience.

For now, Cooper’s fanbase is growing rapidly and she is stepping out as an independent journalist with a captive audience.