The Try Guys: Now the Tri Guys?

If you spent any time on social media in the last month, you probably saw the Try Guys trending. If you, like me, looked at it in utter confusion because you didn’t even know they were still that relevant, you’re in the right place. Personally, I haven’t watched Try Guys since before the pandemic (yes, that is how I classify time at this point) and was baffled that thousands of folks were tweeting about them. The Try Guys, for anyone who isn’t aware, is an American group consisting of Keith Habersberger, Eugene Yang, Ned Fulmer, and Zach Kornfeld. They are wildly popular Youtubers who boast a subscriber count of over 7.8 million. The Try Guys started as a Buzzfeed series before they left the company and started their own brand, 2nd Try, in 2018. They also have a spinoff show on Food Network that premiered last month. As the name goes, the “Try” Guys try things—cooking, pizza, nails, prom dresses, raising toddlers. You name it, they’ve done it.

Ned Fulmer, a member of the Try Guys, is the focus of our attention. On the channel, Fulmer is known as the ‘wife guy’ for loving his wife, bringing up their relationship in some way every episode. Ariel Fulmer, the aforementioned wife, has also been involved with the Try Guys, appearing in Youtube videos and podcasts alongside the partners of the other Try Guys. However, their happy marriage image has been obliterated recently. On Reddit, a user with the username “Hamilton390” made a now deleted post on September 2nd where they alleged that Fulmer was cheating on his wife. Users later speculated that this user is Will Thayer. Who is Thayer, you ask? Thayer is/was the fiancé of Alexandra Herring, an associate producer who has appeared in the group’s food videos (“The Food Babies”). Herring has been involved with the Try Guys since their Buzzfeed days,while Herring and Thayer have been together for ten and a half years. The Reddit user, “Hamilton390” alleges that when Fulmer and Herring were in New York, Fulmer kissed Herring in a bar with photos for proof. The photo is quite blurry but fans have found pictures of the dress, the bag, and the shirt that allegedly match the two. Another reddit user then released screenshots of Instagram DMs with Will Thayer, who told said user that “there’s more that I’m not willing to share.”

As soon as this was leaked, fans went through the Try Guys social media, noticing that Fulmer was not present in recent videos, in new intros, and absent from the last few Instagram posts, including sponsorships and ads. Not only did he not appear in them, internet sleuths compared the background of recent videos to the same background in older videos and deduced that the new videos had been edited, likely to remove Fulmer. He has been edited out of the “Try Guys Ruin Chocolate Eclairs w/ Pro Chefs • Phoning It In” and the “Try Guys Try Stand-Up Comedy.” He also hasn’t appeared in Instagram posts since September 8th and the last three podcast episodes.

On Tuesday, the official Try Guys account, as well as Fulmer and his wife, issued a statement on all social media platforms that seemingly confirmed the rumors. “As a result of a thorough internal review we do not see a path forward together,” the group said. “We thank you for your support as we navigate this change.” In addition, the group’s official Instagram also unfollowed Fulmer, as did other employees of the company and the other Try Guys (notably, Ariel is still followed). Fulmer also posted a statement on his Instagram account apologizing for “losing focus and [having] a consensual relationship.” He went on to say his marriage and children were the most important to him and “that’s where [he was] going to focus his attention.” Finally, Ariel posted a statement on her Instagram thanking those who had reached out to her and requested that fans respect their privacy as “nothing is more important to Ned and [Ariel] than [their] family.”

Fulmer’s handle was also removed from the official Twitter bio and the Youtube “about” page. Previously, on all their social media platforms, the official Try Guys account had four hearts in the bio, one for each guy. Now, there are three. Keith Habersberger, a member of the group, also liked a tweet that said “What a shame. I hope Ariel and everyone else is doing the best they can.”

What’s most interesting about the situation is that the incident happened a few weeks ago and it seems that the Try Guys have known at the time, due to the editing of videos, but waited to make all the official statements and public changes until this week. It’s been speculated that they waited to allow time for Ariel to process and give her privacy. While this very well could be true, they likely were, and almost certainly still are, working through legal issues. While cheating is a moral issue in and of itself, this situation represents a far more troubling issue for the company. Fulmer, as is each Try Guy, a one-fourth owner of their company, 2nd Try. Alexandra Herring is an employee. Removing Fulmer, even if it is the ‘right’ thing to do, leads them down a very difficult path in the future contractually and legally. Emotionally, by what they have shared online, it’s likely a very complicated situation as they have all been friends for years. Additionally, Fulmer not only cheated on his wife, but he, as a boss, was involved with his employee. Though he did say that the relationship was consensual, it still makes the company vulnerable to lawsuits from Herring and other employees for a hostile work environment. This situation puts all of the Try Guys’ deals, sponsorships, partnerships (like their new Food Network show), and company at risk. With the company at risk, employees’ futures also are uncertain.

The Try Guys later announced that they postponed their regularly scheduled podcast by one week to “formulate [their] thoughts.” Paparazzi pictures also emerged of the Fulmers still wearing their rings among the scandal. They were spotted walking out of their house together and taking their kids to school in separate cars. Apparently, they left separately but ended up at the same school for drop-off and left separately afterwards. A video also came out of them walking to their car and smiling at the camera. As they got in the car, they refused to answer questions citing their kids. It’s worth noting that it’s entirely possible that they called the paparazzi themselves. 

Update after Oct 3rd:

The Try Guys released a brief video on October 3rd giving fans more details about the situation and followed it with an extensive podcast episode. The video was sparsely detailed while the podcast, hosted by Kornfield and Habersberger, took an expansive look at the effect of the scandal on the group and the emotional component. In the video, the Try Guys said that Fulmer would not appear in future videos, barring previously shot sponsored content. The video also provided more details about the internal review and they explained the timeline. The group shared that they were alerted by “multiple fans” who reached out on Labor Day weekend to alert the group "that they had seen Ned and an employee engaging in public romantic behavior.” Following the news, they reached out to check on the employee and Fulmer not only confirmed the reports, he confirmed that this had been going on for some time. The Try Guys denied any prior knowledge of this. The review was three weeks and resulted with immediately removing Fulmer from work activities and removing his sections from videos. On Friday, September 16th, the group signed written consent of the members of Second Try LLC approving the removal of Ned as a manager and an employee. At the end, the group hinted at a new direction in the new year.

Following the release of the video, the Try Guys were the subject of an SNL skit, mocking the video and the fervor over the scandal. The skit seemingly criticized the Try Guys for their oversize reaction and minimized Fulmer’s actions. This resulted in swift backlash. Fans were quick to point out that the sketch downplayed the aspect of the power dynamic between Fulmer and his employee and said that it made fun of men finally holding other men accountable. Fans have also done some digging into the writers of the skit and found that one of the writers, Will Stephen, attended Yale in overlapping years as Fulmer. Fulmer also briefly discussed his connection to SNL in an old clip, stating “I’ve got a newborn baby and he’s a writer from SNL.” The two also follow each other on Instagram. This is to insinuate that the script may have been heavily influenced by Fulmer (or a close friend of Fulmer), explaining the skit’s characterization of Fulmer and the Try Guys. None of this is confirmed but it appears that the skit backfired spectacularly for the ex-member. 

Either way, I think user @SkeleCor on Twitter summed up the whole situation perfectly: “The internet [is] reacting to the Ned Fulmer tea like the press thought we would react to Adam Levine.”

by ATREYI BASU