The Try Guys Ned Fulmer Cheating Scandal, Explained

You can be excused for not knowing the names of the Try Guys. I will proudly admit that I was unaware of the Try Guys' existence, just minutes before I was given this story. But there are millions more who have adored them—for years—to the point of white-hot obsession and, now, heartbreak.

The YouTube collective, which includes thirty-somethings Keith Habersberger and Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld and Eugene Lee Yang was formed in 2014. They started making videos on BuzzFeed in 2014, back when it was still in the business YouTube and meme content. The group was intended to be a sexy, personality-driven content organization. They specialized in the sort of soft-boy, Jackass-lite stunts designed to rake in oodles of clicks from passively online Facebook liberals—The Try Guys Experience Labor Contraction Simulations, The Try Guys Eat Everything At KFC, The Try Guys Sit Down With Beto O'Rourke—which thrived in the post-Trump cultural confusion.

While they split off from BuzzFeed in 2018 to go independent, the Try Guys’ tone didn’t change. I believe that Joss Whedon's mid-2000s feminism is a good example of their overall vibe. This comparison will be very useful very soon.

These professional Guys have nearly eight million YouTube subscribers because of all their hard work. work. Although they may not be at the top of algorithm dominance, they still have hundreds of thousands of views per video. These videos are uploaded to the channel almost daily. It's quite the show! It was a hit with the Try Guys.

What happens if one of your anodyne casts of soyface dweebs divulges a pervasive libido. What happens if they have a dangerous crush upon another YouTuber? What if they have a dangerous crush on another YouTuber? This is where I am going.

Let's move backwards and skip to the end. Ned Fulmer, one of the Try Guys was captured on video having an affair with a woman at a New York City bar. Fans noticed that Fulmer wasn't in any of the videos since the group announced that the Try Guys had changed to a lower upload frequency for September. Fans suspected Fulmer had been removed. The video of Ned, allegedly of Fulmer, seemed to confirm all speculations about his status within this group.

These allegations are not being buried in innuendo and guesswork. On Tuesday, Fulmer and the Try Guys announced that they had ended their ties with Fulmer. Fulmer also released a statement stating that Fulmer and the Try Guys had a "consensual workplace relation." He said that Fulmer will be focusing his attention on his "marriage and his "children" as he tries to rebuild his reputation. Fulmer announced all of this on his Instagram and Twitter, where his profile photo is a picture of him making a thumbnail-ready duckface—the sort of expression you'd see splayed out on Fortnite videos—which I believe adds emphasis to the spectacularly hilarious incongruity of this situation.

Fulmer's wife is Ariel Fulmer, and she’s deeply enmeshed in the YouTube business in her own right. She has nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram and frequently appears in the Try Guys’ programming, which makes the infidelity a sickly amalgamation of the personal and the professional. She also released a statement regarding the affair, which basically echoes what Ned had said.

Reddit was the first to post images of Fulmer's indiscretion. Angry fans quickly attempted to figure out who the other woman was. Scandalously, the person he was caught with is allegedly Alexandra Herring—a producer on the Try Guys set, and the star of one of the channel's spinoff serials, "Food Babies." It's a show about YouTubers eating a lot on camera. You can skip it. Herring hasn't commented on any of this, but rumors are swirling that her fiancé, Will Thayer, removed all references to her from his Instagram account, which, as we all know, is the first step of any decoupling soft-launch. It's a terriblely messy situation that will undoubtedly cause many lives to be destroyed and careers to be ruined.

Despite all the funnies I made here, it's important to remember that Fulmers have two children. They are being forced into a very common and humiliating relationship drama, under the harsh light of YouTube fame. They should be heard when they request privacy. But given the nature of the internet and the whole cottage industry surrounding influencer drama, they likely won’t be.

Infidelity seems to be hot right now. Fulmer has taken the baton from Adam Levine who is embroiled in a TikTok-addled scandal of sexting, whose syntax has already become a hall of fame meme. John Mulaney was subject to a similar fracas to the 2021 Try Guys scandal. Mulaney spoke for years about his wife (and their decision not to have children) in stand-up comedy. He then filed for divorce and split with Olivia Munn. Mulaney and Munn had a child last year. His image of a loving, caring husband was clearly shattered.

Twitter is fed up with their favorite husbands taking their favorite wives for granted. Many people have called a referendum on these socalled Wife Guys. Men who make their matrimonial relationships a core part their social media brand are not to trust. Exposing one's marriage for content only makes it more difficult and more dangerous to fall from grace.

While I understand their point of view, I think I have a slightly different perspective on the pressures of being married in the crucible that is YouTube. The culture has gotten a little too chummy with its favorite creators, and that has plagued the internet with this strange, faulty parasocial familiarity—this idea that you, the audience, are on the sounding board for a family unit healing from a devastating breach of trust. None of these people, not even the most dedicated Levine army members, the most avid Mulaney watchers, or the most ardent Try Guys fans, really know who they are. Their content doesn't provide any tangible vectors into their lives when the performers aren’t performing. Celebrities are, and will always be, strangers to us. That is a good thing. These lines have become blurred in an age when brand-building relies upon artificial intimacy that must be fostered by a legion.

It is indeed surreal and cool to see Snoop Dogg live on Twitch, or Reese Witherspoon tackling TikTok challenges. But I think we have pushed this relationship too far. Why would I assume John Mulaney to be a faithful husband? What evidence can I find that everything is going well behind the scenes at Try Guys studio? The only thing that is truly relatable about any celebrity is their constant appearances.

Of course, The Try Guys found themselves in the business of being professional friends and professional spouses—and that brand simply cannot stomach an affair that jeopardizes that entirely unsustainable standard. A sullying was inevitable. It could have taken many forms: a divorce, an argument or a multitude of creative differences. Eventually, it would all end in a break. Social media fame is not equipped to handle the bitter fruits of life. It is a fact that relationships on camera can be very different from those off-camera. Unfortunately, this divide remains unresolved for now. Ned Fulmer will no more appear on any Try Guys productions. He wasn't the man people thought he was.