I Found Out What a “Try Guy” Is So You Don’t Have To
Plus, Trevor Noah and Billy Eichner are both having a bad time right now.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two weeks—or, simply, have a fulfilling life that exists outside of Twitter dot com—you’ve probably heard about the Try Guys drama by now.
Although I had not a clue what a “Try Guy” was a month ago, I now know literally everything there is to know about Keith, Zach, Eugene (my favorite!) and… Ned.
To recap: The Try Guys are, I suppose, a “vlog squad” for the millennial set. Former Buzzfeed employees who eventually left to start their own successful company, the (once) foursome consists of Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, Eugene Lee Yang, and—the ex-Try Guy at the center of the drama, RIP—Ned Fulmer “trying” things and doing goofy, random stuff on camera. (That’s my official summary of what they do. That’s all I’ve got.)
Under their “Second Try” media company, they employ roughly a dozen people, and even had their significant others—know as the “Try Wives—involved in much of their content. This includes Ned’s wife, Ariel.
Every guy has his shtick—for instance, Keith likes to eat copious amounts of food, Eugene is generally fabulous—and Ned’s was always, “wife guy.” Much of their content revolved around a running joke that Ned was obsessed with pointing at his wedding ring and talking about his wife (with whom he shares two children, FWIW).
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That’s what made this scandal so especially shocking for longtime fans of the foursome.
On Labor Day weekend, videos started to circulate of Ned and a subordinate employee making out at “Niagara” in New York City. (A club I used to frequent myself, actually. Nothing good happens there, I promise.) Then, the DMs. The videographer who captured this… event promptly reached out to the significant others—Ariel and the fiancé of this employee in question—and, according to Keith and Zach on their latest podcast episode, the rest of the Try Guys were alerted thereafter.
Things were quiet for a few weeks while The Guys scrambled to do an internal review alongside lawyers and Human Resources experts. That is, until fans began to notice Ned suddenly getting edited out of videos. And then… the screenshots leaked.
That’s when everything blew up. Big time. And now I’m forced to think and talk about these men more than I ever thought was possible.
The Try Guys quickly cut ties with Ned, releasing a short, curt, and—frankly—ice-cold!—statement.
Ned and Ariel then released statements of their own. (Keith and Zach have clarified that their team had nothing to do with these statements, even though they “copied their font.”) TMZ tracked the couple down, who appeared smiley while donning their rings.
The internet has since praised the rapid response of the Try Guys, and have come together to express support for Ariel—again, someone fans have come to watch, enjoy, and listen to (primarily on the podcast she hosts with fellow Try Wives, “You Can Sit With Us”) over the past few years.
More “tea” began to leak that Ned and his employee have, in fact, been having an affair for quite some time, only leading more people to come to the conclusion that Ned is trash.
For the record: On their podcast, Keith and Zach confirmed they had no idea any of this was happening until they were contacted after Labor Day Weekend, and that one of their fears was that people would think they were complicit. As far as I can tell, they definitely weren’t.
If you had no idea any of this happened, great! I’m glad I could provide a little recap. But if you have kept up with this drama—hello, fellow chronically online person—I have a point to make. I promise.
Here’s my point: This became a massive scandal not just because some dude cheated on his wife. But because some dude abused his position of power to sleep with a subordinate employee. That is bad. That is illegal. And he blew up his entire career, friend group, and marriage in the process. Not to mention: THIS IS A WIFE GUY! (Of course, many people have drawn parallels to famous-wife-guy-turned-adulterer John Mulaney.)
I’ve seen many tweets telling people to remember that “engaged-woman-who-partook-in-affair is bad, too! Don’t forget to BULLY her also!”
…CAN WE NOT?! Can we remember that power dynamics exist, and this was her boss?
“She had three other bosses she could’ve gone to if she was uncomfortable!” I’d like to see how you fare in her position. Except, I definitely don’t wish that on anyone.
And, look: I understand that a full-grown adult woman has free agency and willpower and could’ve happily consented to this. But the definition of “consent” in a boss-employee dynamic is inherently blurred.
Also, I’m sick of seeing takes like this, too:
Please see this TikTok:
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Again, I was never a Try Guys fan before. I still wouldn’t consider myself a “fan” because, again, videos of guys doing goofy stuff isn’t exactly my jam. But I 100 percent respect the fact that this situation is totally f*cked for everyone involved, and I truly feel for them.
Did Trevor Noah Get Canned? I’m Going With… Yes
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