Photo Courtesy of The New York Times
The content group dubbed “The Try Guys” began on BuzzFeed as regular employees who could be talked into doing something slightly unusual – “trying” something.
As content creators with loyal fanbases started leaving BuzzFeed to start their own careers, the Try Guys – Keith, Ned, Zach and Eugene – also left to create their own company. They hired people in various production positions, many of whom make on-screen appearances, especially on Keith’s “Eat the Menu” series.
The Try Guys have fairly distinct personalities. Keith is the big-mouthed, tall guy who loves to eat and sing. Zach is the little, Jewish guy (which he brings up often in holiday videos) with a chronic illness and wacky ideas. Eugene is the hot, gay, Asian fashionista who always nails the things they try.
Ned’s personality and individual endeavors have one thing in common: his wife Ariel. His brand on the Try Guys is the smart one who loves his wife, and more recently, his kids. There is even a minute and a half long compilation of every time Ned has said “my wife” in a video posted on YouTube.
But as of Tuesday, Sept. 27, Ned has been exposed as a cheater; however, in Ned’s words, the relationship was “a consensual workplace relationship.” To make things worse, the woman he cheated with also works for the Try Guys.
Alexandria Herring was also publicly engaged to her boyfriend of 10 years, discussing it on the channel, doing a “trying wedding dresses for the first time” video and even being one of the brides in the “Try Guys Try Bridesmaid Dresses” video.
The news broke from a series of screenshots posted by Alexandria’s then-fiancé, Will, on Reddit, where a fan asked him about Alexandria’s location before informing him that she and Ned had been seen making out on the dance floor.
In the source’s screenshots, Alexandria is identifiable by a purse she wore in a Try Guys post from the same trip, and Ned is identifiable by a shirt he wore in a video.
The Try Guys team evidently knew of this for a while, as Ned appeared in fewer videos and was even edited out of some, and just hours after the news began trending, the Try Guys team announced that Ned was no longer with the company.
The statements declared that after an “internal review” they can “no longer see a path forward” with Ned, and their Instagram icon has been changed from one with representations of the four of them to a plain logo.
There’s no indication of how long the affair had gone on; estimates range from six months to one year. One person claimed Ariel knew and forgave Ned, but Ariel has now removed “Ned’s Wife” from her Instagram bio.
Former BuzzFeed employees have remarked that they’ve “reconnected with every work friend” to discuss the news, though none seem surprised.
The overwhelming consensus on social media is that if you have to say you like your wife that much, you’re overcompensating, as demonstrated by John Mulaney, Adam Levine and now Ned Fulmer.
A previous Try Guys employee posted a video of himself reading Ned and Ariel’s co-authored cookbook to the TikTok sound “You ruined everything, you stupid bitch” from “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” He may be right: a workplace relationship with an employee, an irredeemable destruction of his brand and being fired from a company he once co-owned … Ned has ruined everything.
