I remember exactly the day I discovered that Ned Fulmer left the Try Guys, early in my junior year. As I was lying in my bed one September afternoon, I saw the Instagram post announcing that the Try Guys were reducing their content output to one video a week. A few hours later, scrolling through TikTok, I found out that Fulmer was fired. I was shocked. Then, the world found out why: the self-proclaimed “Wife Guy” had “a consensual workplace relationship,” or, in other words, an affair.
The Try Guys, a former Buzzfeed group that left and created their own company, was a group that I followed extremely closely. As someone with a bad relationship with their parents, I turned to the Try Guys for a sense of fatherhood and a good example of what modern men could be. They were always “unproblematic,” never getting cancelled by anyone. I had developed a parasocial relationship with the Try Guys, and the facade of the group being nice, safe men shattered that day. I felt betrayed. How could Ned do this?
When I found out who he cheated with, I was even more disappointed. Just how consensual could the affair have been, considering this relationship was between Fulmer, the boss of his company, and one of his employees? His actions, in my view, were unforgivable. I felt extremely sympathetic for his wife, Ariel, as the downfall of her marriage was now public. Furthermore, I felt horrible for his kids, who will one day know all the details of how their dad cheated on their mom, publicly. I did not want to see his face on the internet anymore. And for three years, he was silent on his social media. Then, on September 16th, he released an interview with People magazine and posted on Instagram for the first time in three years.
While I do not support the redemption era of Ned Fulmer, I read the article, curious about the details of the event and the reaction of his wife, Ariel Fulmer. The article stated that Fulmer would be releasing a podcast the next day, the first episode being with his wife. So, of course, to satisfy my curiosity, I listened to the podcast the day it was released. Listening to that podcast, however, is an hour of my life that I will never get back.
Throughout the hour, Ned and Ariel Fulmer explained that they were no longer together, Ariel citing the affair as the primary reason, but that they continue to remain coparents. Ariel’s frustration in the episode was palpable. She was vulnerable and expressive, explaining that she does not want to be on the internet anymore, feeling subject to the scrutiny that so many women face. Ariel also stated that Ned’s confession of the affair placed an immense amount of pressure on her, to which Ned, disappointingly, had no response. Fulmer proved himself to be a man incapable of fully reflecting on his actions, consistently referring to his affair as a mistake, framing it as an accident rather than an informed choice made by an adult man.
I want to clarify that I listened to the first episode of Rock Bottom with Ned Fulmer solely because I knew it would provide a space for Ariel to share her side of the story, and not because I believe that Ned deserves a redemption arc. What he put his wife and children through publicly is indefensible. Fulmer lied to his audience throughout the course of his affair, profiting from his happy, stable relationship with his then-wife. It was deplorable for Fulmer to exploit the power dynamic between him and his employee for his own pleasure. While it is up to audiences to decide what they choose to watch, to consume Fulmer’s and contribute to him profiting off the internet is to enable his actions and to dismiss his affair. He does not deserve a redemption arc.