A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article about the Try Guys scandal and why the internet was fussing over it. Well unfortunately, things are still whack about it in the immediate aftermath.
Like I said before, Ariel is still with Ned Fulmer, and I respect her choices. What makes me uneasy is how Fulmer has responded after the scandal came out. Fulmer claims that the relationship with his subordinate is consensual, but many speculate that it wasn’t due to the inherent power dynamic. Suffice to say, news spread of this scandal to places I couldn’t even imagine. One of which, was Saturday Night Live.
To backtrack, the rest of the Try Guys, Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang, released a video explaining the situation as they knew it and what steps they took to handle it internally and their timeline of finding out things. Relative to other YouTube apologies/explanations, this was actually done really well. They detailed their steps, the actions they were taking as it can lead to legal snafus with employment laws, and their plans going forward. People commended it, and it should really be held as an example for future apologies.
It was great, until the unexpected thing in this timeline happened where SNL decided to parody it with Bowen Yang playing Lee Yang, Andrew Dismukes playing Habersberger, and Mikey Day playing Kornfeld. It was a CNN newscast style skit where they made the Try Guys response appear ridiculous through rewording it in a nonsensical manner to poke holes in the original response, especially with Bowen Yang playing up Lee Yang’s serious demeanor in the original video. This was completely tasteless especially considering the fact that it was making fun of people who were getting mad about Fulmer’s cheating and potential abuse of power in the workplace. It was extremely dismissive towards those that have experienced this form of workplace abuse and potentially made people more scared especially considering the audience of SNL.
After this unfortunate skit, one TikTok user theorized that Fulmer’s acquaintance from Yale, who’s a writer at SNL, made this skit to avenge Fulmer. During an episode of the Try Guys podcast, the TryPod. Fulmer talks about Will Stephen, a writer at SNL who went to Yale at the same time as Fulmer. Stephen was a writer on the Try Guys skit. It wouldn’t be that far of a leap to think that he was inspired by his old friend Ned and wanted to paint him in a better light despite the treatment he’s getting all over.
You would think that SNL would have much more to write about for skits besides making fun of a situation like this, especially with the number of writers they have and maybe even the upcoming midterm elections. It’s just appalling that they would trivialize something so serious for their benefit of making a “good skit”. Thankfully it didn’t leave a great impression on viewers and people justly called them out. It’s also appalling that there is a possibility that Fulmer is using his sphere of influence to try and change public opinion over his transgressions.
I have a bad feeling that there will be another unexpected twist in this story, because, honestly, anything can happen at this point due to the unexpectedness of the scandal. SNL needs to learn to do better and fix their mistakes. The Try Guys is still persevering, though, as they reach a new era and are still releasing videos as they try new things, despite whatever is thrown their way.