The Try Guys,  Ned Fulmer, and his wife Ariel Fulmer all released an official statement on Sept. 28 regarding Fulmer’s affair with a coworker. The Try Guys announced that Fulmer, who was one of the founders of their company 2nd Try, LLC, was terminated after a “consensual workplace relationship” was uncovered.

“I watched Ned and the Try Guys since before they left Buzzfeed in 2018,” Liz Kim (11), Try Guys fan, said. “I just can not believe that this is true. Ned was the ‘wife-guy’ of the group, always talking about how much he loved his wife. It sort of hurts as a fan to realize that it might not have been true.”

The controversy around Fulmer’s adultery had begun long before the group issued official statements. Speculation started brewing when fans started noticing that the latest Try Guys videos were edited in unusual ways and that Fulmer was strangely absent from their content. 

Further discussions erupted when blurry fan-taken photographs from a New York bar depicted Ned with a woman who was not his wife, one resembling Alex Herring, a prominent 2nd Try, LLC coworker. 

Due to Fulmer’s public image of being a “wife-guy,” most fans refused to believe that the photos were real at first, but subsequent witness testimonies on Reddit seemed to confirm the rumors.

“I heard rumors on the internet circulating about two weeks before they released an official statement,” Ryan Jung (11), Reddit user and Try Guys fan, said. “Of course, I thought it was fake; I mean Ned’s entire personal brand revolves around his relationship with his wife. I thought these rumors were being spread by trolls.”

On Oct. 4, the Try Guys Youtube channel released an official video statement titled “what happened.” In the video, the three remaining members of the team, Eugene Yang, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld, clarified that they had no clue about the affair before August, and after being informed by fans, they immediately took action to remove Fulmer from the team.

“From the jump, we were acutely aware of just how contrary this was to the values of this company we have built and those of everyone who works here,” Eugene said. “We refused to sweep things under the rug.”

Though there is widespread support for the Try Guys’ careful handling of the situation, some fans of Fulmer believe that he deserves another chance.

“I do not think it was totally fair to kick him out of the team,” Francis Kim (9), occasional Try Guys viewer, said. “Even though this is a very major mistake because he had an affair with a coworker, he is one of the founding pillars of the Try Guys, so I think he does deserve another chance.”

The Try Guys explained their next steps forward following this controversy. They confirmed that there will be no new fourth member of the Try Guys despite some speculation by fans, and they clarified that Fulmer would not be edited out of pre-existing content, though some pre-recorded content might be strangely edited to cut Fulmer out.

“I do not know how the Try Guys will continue after this controversy,” Liz said. “I hope they will continue to be successful even though their reputation might be slightly damaged.”