The Try Guys “Try” Infidelity

Like bees swarming in a hive, there have been many ‘sticky’ situations occurring this September and October. Cheating allegations have been spreading like wildfire, and every now and then, the general public is actually right. First it happened with Adam Levine, in which his second—much younger—’girlfriend’ exposed direct messages that had been sent to her from Levine which contain some pretty solid evidence. If Adam Levine was a track runner, he certainly passed the baton. A couple of weeks later, Ned Fulmer from The Try Guys was also under fire for allegedly cheating on his wife with an employee. On September 27, Ned released a statement on his Instagram account claiming that he “lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship.” Since then, things have not been the same since, and people are now questioning what this means for not only the future of the Try Guys, but for the future of general marriage and relationships as well. 

The Try Guys is a company that was originally founded under the social media power Buzzfeed. It consisted of four 20-somethings: Eugene Lee Yang, Zach Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger, and of course, Ned Fulmer. This posse of guys posted regular videos full of entertaining challenges that they would “try” to the Buzzfeed channel, which garnered them a large following over the years they’d been posting. On June 16, 2018—like many other former Buzzfeed employees—the guys decided to leave Buzzfeed and create their own company, Second Try. Second Try, since then, has been incredibly successful and the Try Guys have amassed a subscriber count of over 8 million. However, in the light of Ned’s scandal, it’s unclear what will happen next with the channel. 

Before discussing the actual cheating scandal, some background information in this scenario is important for recollection and comprehension. The Try Guys have built a brand where they’re specifically known for individual things. For example, Eugene often speaks about his asian upbringing as well as his hatred for young children or anything emotional. Zach is Jewish but also discusses his battles with chronic pain. Keith is the comedy king from the midwest, and Ned’s schpiel is always about how much he loves his wife. Ned has built his entire brand around his adoration for Ariel Fulmer, his wife and the mother of his two children. You can only imagine how everyone reacted when a guy who seemed like a perfect father and husband who only ever complimented his wife got caught cheating on her. Like John Mulaney, Ned had dug his foot so deep into this hole that once the news broke, he couldn’t get out of it. Another important part of this whole myriad of scenarios is this “consensual workplace relationship” that Ned referred to in his original statement. Alexandria “Alex” Herring (the other half of the cheating scandal) worked with the guys at Buzzfeed beforehand and then became an Associate Producer at Second Try LLC. Alex, like Ned, was also in a 10 year relationship with fiancé Will Thayer at the time the scandal broke. 

The reason this scandal broke out like wildfire wasn’t only because Ned based his entire brand off of Ariel, but it was also the fact that Alex was his employee, which would have resulted in numerous lawsuits for employee-boss relationships and misconduct. Ned abused his power as Alex’s boss, and whether she consented to the act or not, keeping him as a co-owner of the Try Guys would’ve put the whole company in danger of becoming bankrupt. He had such a large position over her that she would have felt forced or would have agreed to it to help keep her job. Earlier in September, fans started to notice Ned and Alexandria frolicing around in New York City and immediately messaged their significant others (Will and Ariel) to inform them of the situation. Weeks later, fans started to put two and two together when Ned was being edited out of their most recent videos. Videos of Ned and Alex making out in a bar spread all over Twitter, and a photo that Ned took at a Harry Styles concert with a fan matched up to the exact outfit and the timing of the video that was taken. It was safe to say that Ned had been convicted, and soon after that, the Try Guys released a statement that explained their cutoff from Mr. Fulmer. 

Growing up with the Try Guys myself, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was surprised and upset at this news myself. Fans of the group loved that Ned was so supportive of his wife, and I truly believed that he was a great role model for other men out there—not only in marriage, but in fatherhood as well. This news is infuriating for so many because, despite many people unfortunately having their own experiences with cheating significant others, Ned and Alex barely even tried to hide it. They let their own desires get the best of them, which not only ruined their own relationships, but also their coworkers, friends, and the Try Guys company itself. For someone who attended Yale University—an Ivy League school with one of the lowest acceptance rates in the country—this was an extremely uncalculated and uneducated move on Ned’s part. As of recently, the three Try Guys released a video that explained their feelings and how they’d be moving forward, and as of yesterday, SNL (one of Ned’s friends from Yale is a writer) released a disrespectful bit making fun of said video. Ned Fulmer lit the torch, and it looks like the remnants of the Try Guys might burn with it. All he had to do was “try” infidelity.