The Try Guys are “incredibly shocked and deeply hurt” over the way Ned Fulmerexited the group.
In a video published Monday, three-fourths of The Try Guys — Eugene Lee Yang,Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfield — spoke out on camera for the first timesince Fulmer exited the YouTube channel following an internal review of whathe said was a “consensual workplace relationship.”
“As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forwardtogether,” read a Sept. 27 statement posted to the official @tryguys Instagramaccount. “We thank you for your support as we navigate this change.”
Yang, Habersberger and Kornfield “wanted to give (fans) a timeline on what’stranspired and some transparency into our decision making.” Kornfield addedthat throughout the YouTube video posted Monday, “there will be things that wewant to say or go into further” but there are “some legal issues we have toconsider as we go through everything.”
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Habersberger said “multiple fans alerted” them on Labor Day weekend thatFulmer had been spotted with an employee “engaging in public romanticbehavior.” He added Fulmer “confirmed the reports” and also confirmed “thatthis had been going on for some time.”
He continued: “We had no idea this was going on.”
The channel’s statement issued in September did not elaborate on what> sparked their internal review or what the review detailed, though Fulmer and> his wife spoke out in separate social media statements shortly after the Try> Guys’ announcement at the time.
“Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had aconsensual workplace relationship,” Fulmer wrote. “I’m sorry for any pain thatmy actions may 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, andthat’s where I am going to focus attention .”
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Ned and Ariel have been married since 2012 and share two sons.
From the beginning: YouTuber Ned Fulmer ‘no longer working’ with The TryGuys after ‘consensual workplace relationship’
“And thus began a three-week process of engaging with employment lawyers,corporate lawyers, HR, PR and more, in order to make sure we were taking allthe necessary steps from the jump,” Yang said in the video Monday, adding theytook “this very seriously.”
“We refused to sweep things under the back,” he continued. “That’s not who weare and is not what we stand for.”
From left to right, YouTube stars Zach Kornfeld, Ned Fulmer and KeithHabersberger visit USA TODAY in 2019 while promoting their book.
According to the group, Fulmer was “immediately” removed from work activities.They also opted to remove Fulmer from new video releases pending the resultsof the internal review.
Additionally, “there are several videos that we’ve deemed as fullyunreleasable, you will never see them and that is due to his involvement. Andthat’s a decision that has cost us lots of money. We will not be able torecoup that money but it’s a decision we stand by proudly,” Habersberger said.
Kornfield added the group cannot talk about the details of the review, but”sufficiency to say we found that Ned had engaged in conduct unbecoming of ourteam and we knew that we could not move forward with him.”
Yang said the group was “incredibly shocked and deeply hurt by all of this.”
“This is someone who we’ve built a brand and a company with for eight years(and) we feel saddened not just personally but on behalf of our staff and ourfans who believed in us,” Yang added.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever be able to fully articulate the pain we feel atthis moment,” Habersberger said. “We’re losing a friend.”
Kornfield added their “primary focus right now” is making sure the rest oftheir staff feels “comfortable and proud coming to work.”
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Following the Fulmer scandal, The Try Guys also changed its logo on socialmedia platforms – in place of its signature blue, green, pink and purplequadrants with cartoon renderings of each of the four members, is now anoutlined image of a triceratops with an orange background.
The Try Guys, which boasts more than 7.8 million YouTube subscribers, began asa BuzzFeed webseries in 2014 that chronicled founders Kornfeld, Habersberger,Yang and Fulmer’s zany exploits in trying new things – experiencing labor painsimulation, baking without a recipe, taste-testing everything on a fast foodchain’s menu and driving while intoxicated (under professional supervision),to name a few.
In 2018, the four left BuzzFeed and founded their own production company tocontinue the Try Guys brand. They have since expanded to hire multipleemployees and feature spinoff video series, a documentary, a tour and podcastsfeaturing other team members as well as spouses and partners of the Try Guys –including Fulmer’s wife, who he has frequently collaborated withprofessionally and identifies himself as her husband in his social media bios.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Try Guys speak outfollowing Ned Fulmer drama, will edit him out