The Try Guys speak out following Ned Fulmer drama, will edit him out

Ned Fulmer's exit from the group has shocked and deeply upset the Try Guys. 

In a video published Monday, three-fourths of The Try Guys — Eugene Lee Yang, Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfield — spoke out on camera for the first time since Fulmer exited the YouTube channel following an internal review of what he said was a "consensual workplace relationship."

"As a result a thorough internal evaluation, we do not see any path forward together," reads a Sept. 27 statement on the official @tryguys Instagram account. "We are grateful for your support as this transition takes place." 

Yang, Habersberger, and Kornfield wanted to "give (fans) an overview of what's happened and some transparency into how we made our decisions." Kornfield added that throughout the YouTube video posted Monday, "there will be things that we want to say or go into further" but there are "some legal issues we have to consider as we go through everything."

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Habersberger stated that "multiple fans" alerted them to the fact Fulmer was spotted with an employee "engaging into public romantic behavior." He said Fulmer confirmed the reports and also confirmed that it had been ongoing for some time.

He said, "We didn't know this was happening."

The channel's statement issued in September did not elaborate on what sparked their internal review or what the review entailed, though Fulmer and his wife spoke out in separate social media statements shortly after the Try Guys' announcement at the time. 

"Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship," Fulmer wrote. "I am sorry for any pain my actions may have caused the guys and the fans, but most importantly to Ariel. My marriage and my children are the only thing that matters at this time, and that is where I will focus my attention. 

Ariel and Ned have been married since 2012, and they share two sons. 

From the beginning:YouTuber Ned Fulmer has 'no longer worked' with The Try Guys following a 'consensual workplace partnership' 

Yang stated in the video Monday that they had begun a three-week process to engage with corporate lawyers, employment lawyers, HR, PR, and other lawyers in order to ensure that they were taking every step from the jump. 

He continued, "We refused to sweep them under the carpet." "That is not who and what we stand for." 

According to the group Fulmer was "immediately removed" from work activities. In the meantime, they decided to remove Fulmer's name from any new video releases. 

Additionally, "there are several videos that we've deemed as fully unreleasable, you will never see them and that is due to his involvement. This decision has cost us a lot of money. We will not be able to recoup that money but it's a decision we stand by proudly," Habersberger said. 

Kornfield stated that the review cannot be discussed in detail, but that "we found that Ned had engaged a conduct unbecoming to our team and that we knew we couldn't move forward with him." 

Yang stated that the group was "incredibly shocked" and "deeply hurt by all this."

Yang said, "This is someone with whom we've built an image and a company for eight years (and) which we feel saddened not only personally but also on behalf of our employees and our fans who believed and supported us." 

Habersberger stated, "I don’t know that we’ll ever be able fully articulate the pain and feelings we feel at this time." "We're losing a friend."

Kornfield stated that their "primary focus right at the moment" is to make sure their staff feel "comfortable, proud and happy coming to work." 

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Following the Fulmer scandal, The Try Guys also changed its logo on social media platforms – in place of its signature blue, green, pink and purple quadrants with cartoon renderings of each of the four members, is now an outlined image of a triceratops with an orange background. 

The Try Guys, which boasts more than 7.8 million YouTube subscribers, began as a BuzzFeed webseries in 2014 that chronicled founders Kornfeld, Habersberger, Yang and Fulmer's zany exploits in trying new things – experiencing labor pain simulation, baking without a recipe, taste-testing everything on a fast food chain's menu and driving while intoxicated (under professional supervision), to name a few. 

The four of them left BuzzFeed in 2018 and started their own production company to carry on the Try Guys brand. They have since expanded to hire multiple employees and feature spinoff video series, a documentary, a tour and podcasts featuring other team members as well as spouses and partners of the Try Guys – including Fulmer's wife, who he has frequently collaborated with professionally and identifies himself as her husband in his social media bios. 

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