The comedy band the Try Guys shared a video statement on Monday night, in which they address the group’s recent decision to break relations with former member Ned Fulmer, who admitted that he had been involved in an “consensual” work-related incident that became the focus of an investigation within his company.
Zach Cornfeld, Keith Habersberger and Eugene Lee Yang appear in the clip, titled “what occurred.,” explaining the time frame of Fulmer’s departure from the business and the ways the team will continue to modify its content in order to deal with the issues. The group shared that they was working on removing Fulmer from its new content immediately after the investigation of his conduct was initiated.
“We immediately took steps to remove Ned from all work-related activities and enlisted an HR expert to conduct a thorough investigation of the circumstances. We also chose to exclude Ned from our publications, in the event of the results of the evaluation,” Kornfeld stated. “That’s also included taking his segment from the videos, removing him digitally Ned from the other releases and choosing not to include Ned in our merch swags. In all honesty, I’d like to be extremely grateful to our editors for the skillful way they’ve handled the situation.”
Kornfeld added that although the team was able to keep Fulmer out of certain videos, the group ended up deciding to cut down some videos where the former member was the most prominent character.
“There are a number of videos that we’ve decided to label as completely unreleasable,”” Kornfeld continued. “You won’t ever be able to view them, and this is because of his involvement. This was a choice that has cost us a lot of dollars. We won’t get back this amount however, it’s a decision we are proud to stand by.”
Habersberger revealed that the trio are working alongside their editors in order to remove Fulmer from any future films which have already been recorded. He also said that some of the content sponsored by sponsors could contain Fulmer because of corporate commitments prior to his departure.
The group also revealed that they had each signed a consent to take away Fulmer as an employee and manager of the business on Sept. 16. Habersberger explained that the group didn’t rush to announce the matter due to the fact that “there are people in the real world who are in the process” and “there’s one family at the heart” of the matter.
Yang later said that the group realized that a public statement was required because of “rapidly increasing speculation in the public.” In the days prior to Try Guys’ first statement that announced Fulmer’s departure of the organization, internet users began to spread theories about Fulmer’s absence from recent videos.
“We are absolutely devastated and shocked by this. This is someone we developed a brand and company for the past 8 years,”” Yang stated. “We grieve, and not only personally but also on behalf of our employees and the fans we had who believed in our brand.”
“I do not think we’ll ever truly express the grief that we are feeling at the moment,” Kornfeld said. “It’s difficult to go back and watch old videos we cherish and are proud of. We’re losing a friend.”
The Try Guys first launched at BuzzFeed but left in the year the year 2018 to establish 2nd Try, their own production firm called 2nd Try. The group has 7.9 million viewers to their channel on YouTube. They also has a new show airing in the Food Network channel. Food Network, “No-Recipe Road Trip with the Try Guys” which debuted in August.
