'Absolutely shocked': Try Guys fans and a crisis PR expert on the cheating scandal and what's next for the YouTubers

• The Try Guys became the center of internet gossip after they announced Ned Fulmer's removal.
• Fulmer, one of the group's four members, admitted to a consensual workplace relationship.

If you have spent any time online in the past couple weeks, chances are you've been flooded with posts about The Try Guys, a YouTube squad who became a fount of internet gossip and speculation after kicking out one of their four members for a workplace cheating scandal.

The Try Guys were initially silent as rumors about the 35-year-old Ned Fulmer's removal took over social media, but later announced their decision to eject him and made a public video addressing the issue. They have since followed up with an entire podcast episode about the saga. Fulmer also published a statement saying he "lost focus" and was "sorry for any pain" his actions caused the rest of the group, the group's fans, and his wife, Ariel Fulmer.

The blowup has brought the group, who had fallen out of mainstream attention despite a dedicated fanbase, back into the public eye. But whether the remaining three members of the influencer group — Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang — will capitalize on the scandal giving the group renewed relevance or fade after losing one of their core members remains an open question.

Insider spoke with several fans and crisis PR experts to see what they think is next for the Try Guys.

Fans and communications experts are cautiously optimistic about the group's future

The Try Guys initially began in 2014 while the team worked at BuzzFeed and later went independent in 2018. The group is known for trying different things, including food challenges, beauty products, and doing various activities. They have 8 million YouTube subscribers and over 2 billion cumulative views, as well as offshoot media properties in addition to their main channel.

The social media response to The Try Guys controversy has been overwhelmingly anti-Ned, with dozens of posts and comments criticizing him on the YouTube group's Reddit fanpage. Casual observers and media critics lampooned the heavy seriousness with which the Try Guys were handling the scandal, but many fans complimented their response video where the three remaining members spoke solemnly and said they "had no idea" the consensual workplace relationship was going on. The remaining members also announced that they were editing Fulmer out of all their forthcoming videos.

"Their response video was excellent," Erik Bernstein, a crisis communications expert, told Insider. "The tone and general demeanor from all three was spot-on for crisis management — they presented exactly the image their fans would expect to see."

"Announcing Fulmer was being edited is a clear way to walk their talk… they said he's gone, and you'll be able to physically see the evidence that they are telling the truth," Bernstein added.

One of the reasons why the controversy went as viral as it did was because of Fulmer's online persona, which is closely associated with the "Wife Guy" trope of a man who dotes on his partner with public vows of reverence and loyalty. Fans were startled and upset that Fulmer's real-life actions didn't sync up with his influencer image. The controversy also echoed recent celebrity cheating scandals like Adam Levine's alleged text messages leaking, making it part of a wider discourse around fandoms and infidelity.

Sierra, a 24-year-old Try Guys fan from Ohio, told Insider that they were "absolutely shocked" when the group announced Fulmer's departure. Sierra said "only time will tell" how the group will rebound, but that they thought the only reputation harmed by the incident was Fulmer's, not the rest of them.

Similarly, Bernstein said he thinks the sudden, dramatic influx of attention could benefit the group in the long-term, as the news has most likely introduced them to a larger audience.

Since mid-September, when rumors about the group began to circulate, the phrase "Try Guys" has spiked in popularity on Google Trends, and the Try Guys-themed Reddit page is one of the fastest-growing subreddits in the last month, according to Subreddit Stats, a website that tracks Reddit page growth. Many fans online appear to be rallying around and sympathizing with the remaining members.

The group is still in the initial stages of the aftermath. They haven't posted a proper new video since the drama exploded, and fans are wondering what kind of content they'll make without Fulmer. Habersberger, Kornfeld, and Yang opened up more about dealing with the situation on the group's podcast TryPods, and said they weren't going to replace him with someone new.

Bernstein was cautiously optimistic, adding that if the group turns out to be hiding any "damning details" or if people perceive them as "milking the situation for press," opinion could sway against them.

Becca, a fan from Texas who has watched the group since their early days at BuzzFeed, was also ambivalent about the group's future. She told Insider that the nature of Fulmer's exit might suggest the other Try Guys members are potentially not what their images portray.

"Ned built his persona around loving his wife," Becca said. "Since he cheated on her, it brings into question: are the other personas the other guys have created unequal to their character."