The internet was taken by virtual storm on Tuesday after finding out the (now former) Try Guy, Ned Fulmer, cheated on his wife, Ariel.
Ned Fulmer grew into internet stardom while working at Buzzfeed in the 2010’s. He was featured in an abundance of videos before the Try Guys became a staple for the publishing company. The quad squad was made up of Ned alongside Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang. They made their name by trying anything from drag makeup to creating crazy holiday calendars. It wasn’t until 2018 that the group separated from the company to work independently under the tag “The Try Guys”. As of October 2022, their Youtube Channel has 7.85 million subscribers and almost 2 billion combined video views.
Fulmer made a brand out of his marriage to wife Ariel Fulmer and made comments all throughout his career that followed the lines of: “I love my wife.” It became a part of his persona and virtual personality as a whole. The Fulmers have been married since 2012 and have two children together, Wesley and Finn. The couple was often seen as #relationshipgoals until tragedy struck: the “I love my wife” guy cheated…on his wife.
Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok (among other social media platforms) were flooded with images of a supposed Ned and Alex Herring, an employee of The Try Guys’, clubbing together. The two were seen drinking together and dancing closely. Images floated around while other users on these platforms shared additional evidence. A fan posted a selfie with Ned taken at a Harry Styles’ concert where his wife was not present. The user claimed he seemed “annoyed” to be recognized. His outfit in the selfie furthered the theory that the pictures of him and Alex were actually reputable and raised eyebrows about what that could mean for his wife, kids, and business.
Fans grew impatient waiting for any word of confirmation or denial from the Try Guys, Ned, or Ariel’s social media accounts. Ned’s Instagram story had a video of pizzas on a countertop along with his last post dated September 20, 2022. His bio still had “(aka @arielfulmer’s husband)” in it while she had taken the word “Wife” out of hers. One thing to note, however, is that it remains unclear the exact date she had taken this title out of her bio on Instagram. It wasn’t until the afternoon that each of their personal accounts, along with the official Try Guys Instagram posted statements, seemingly simultaneously, that consisted of a white square and plain text. The Try Guys wrote, “Ned Fulmer is no longer working with The Try Guys. As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forward together. We thank you for your support as we navigate this change.” Ned’s post said, “Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship. I’m sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused to the guys [Keith, Eugene, and Zach] 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.” “Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me – it means a lot . Nothing is more important to me and Ned than our family, and all we request right now is that you respect our privacy for the sake of our kids,” Ariel posted. Both Ned and The Try Guys left their posts with no captions, while Ariel captioned hers with a red heart. The official brand’s social media accounts moved on to change their profile picture from one of all four of the guys to an outline of a triceratops in front of an orange background. Additionally, they removed the red heart from all of their bios that signified Fulmer. Ned still has Ariel mentioned in his Instagram bio along with a link to purchase their collaboration project, The Date Night Cookbook, but has removed “Try Guy”.
Viewers were heartbroken after seeing the posts and took to places like TikTok to voice their opinions and support for Ariel. User [@faerierow] posted a video that starts with a message on the screen, “[You’re] telling me.. Ned Fulmer cheated on..” followed by images of Ariel from her Instagram page. The news was trending on Twitter with many notable individuals who had personal relationships with Fulmer commenting on the drama. Former coworkers of Fulmer (from Buzzfeed) showed no mercy in their responses to the rumors. Jazzmyne Robbins [@jazzmynejay] (member of Buzzfeed channel LadyLike) posted a gif of Kermit the Frog turning towards the camera with a straight face captioned, “Y’all shocked…” Devin Lytle [@devdevnumnums] (member of Buzzfeed channel LadyLike) simply tweeted: “2022: the year we realized that wife guys are still guys.” Maya Murillo [@mayainthemoment] (former Buzzfeed and Pero Like affiliate) also shared, in a since deleted tweet, “very much not surprised.”
Many Twitter users also made comments concerning Alex Herring and how she needs to be held just as much accountable as Ned. Herring was notably in a committed relationship with William Thayer, whom she was engaged to and with for over ten years. Thayer unfollowed both Alex and Ned before deleting all his posts that featured Herring. He later completely deleted his Instagram account. There is speculation about the semantics of the Fulmer-Herring relationship, given that he was her superior in the workplace. As of October she is still employed by the company.
Ned and Ariel were seen the next day getting into their car to pick their kids up. They were both wearing their wedding rings. Many have assumed, from their respective posts, that the couple will try to work things out and stay together.
The Try Guys announced that they are taking a week break from posting their podcast and will return with an episode next week.