Courtney Balcombe – Opinion Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

The Try Guys, famously known as four guys who will try just about anything from a night in their wives’ shoes to auditioning for a broadway musical, nothing is off limits for these men. However, recently the Try Guys have been covering the news with their member Ned Fulmer known best as the “Wife Guy” because he is all about his marriage, but that is no longer the case as he has admitted to cheating on his wife in the workplace with an employee of “The Try Guys” show.

“Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship,” Fulmer said. “I’m sorry for any pain my actions have caused to the guys and the fans but most of all to Ariel. The only thing that matters right now is my marriage and my children, and that’s where I am going to focus my attention.”

On Monday, October 3, Eugene Lee Yang, Zach Kornfeld, and Keith Habersberger, the three remaining members of The Try Guys released a statement on their YouTube channel saying Fulmer is no longer working with the group or their company.

“From the jump, we were acutely aware of just how contrary this was to the values of the company we built and those of everyone who works here,” Yang said. “This is something we took very seriously, we refused to sweep anything under the rug. That is not who we are and not what we stand for.”

In their five-minute video, they did their best to explain the removal of Fulmer without revealing too much as the situation is still under review.

“We found that Ned had engaged in conduct unbecoming of our team and we knew that we could not move forward with him. So on Friday, September 16, the three of us signed the written consent of the members of Second Try LLC approving the removal of Ned as a manager and an employee. We chose not to rush into the announcement for a few reasons,” Habersberger added. “Namely, there are real people who have been affected. And while we consider this a company matter, there’s just also a family at the center of this.”

After their thorough review of the situation and advice from their legal team, the guys determined what was best for them and their company.

“We immediately removed Ned from work activities and engaged an HR professional to conduct a thorough review of the facts.,” Kornfeld said. “We also opted to remove Ned from our releases pending the results of that review. There are several videos that we have deemed as fully unreleasable, you will never see them, and that is due to his involvement.”

The team members said they will soon begin figuring out what the next phase of their channel will look like, however, there are no plans to replace Fulmer. 

Devin Lytle, a former BuzzFeed producer for its show “Lady Like,” which she described as a woman version of “The Try Guys,” said Fulmer’s departure from the show is “the end of an era.”

“I think something that really struck with the folks is the fact that Ned marketed himself as like the family guy, wife guy,” she said. “And I think that’s what is so shocking about … the truth that has come out about this relationship.”

The Try Guys thanked their supporters and Kornfeld said, “We look forward to introducing you to the next era of the Try Guys ahead.”