Before there was the Coldplay Astronomer CEO situation, there was Ned Fulmer. The beloved former Buzzfeed star, best known as one of the members of the original foursome the Try Guys, was seen as the "wife guy" of the group, always talking about how much he loved his family, including wife Ariel Fulmer and their two children. However, when it was revealed that he'd been having an affair with one of the Try Guys company's employees back in September 2022, immediate backlash followed, resulting in his departure from the company.
He has remained out of the public eye since, only issuing a (now deleted) statement admitting to the infidelity, followed by one from Ariel thanking her followers for their support (her social media pages have since been made private). Now, the 38-year-old social media personality is breaking his silence on the matter three years later, shedding some light on what he's been up to since and the status of his marriage to Ariel, 39.
Return to the spotlight
"I feel ready to share my story and to move on into a new chapter," he told People, announcing that he was doing so with a new podcast titled Rock Bottom. "I started to want to create and miss making things. I mean, I'm the type of person that’d be in a community theater show getting paid nothing. I just love it."
The aim of the podcast is to spotlight the stories of those who've experienced their own "rock bottoms," including those dealing with addictions and convicted gang leaders. "Anyone who's overcome something challenging," he notes, adding that even people like himself, canceled social media personalities, are in contention.
"It's made me a lot more interested in other people's challenging times," Ned continued. "When someone does something that they're really ashamed about or that is deeply traumatizing, life goes on. So what happens next?" The first episode drops sooner than you'd think: Wednesday, September 17, with his premiere guest being none other than his wife Ariel.
Are Ned and Ariel still married?
While the scandal immensely strained Ned and Ariel's relationship, they were able to find a way back to each other with the help of lots of therapy. They remain married to this day, although not without its challenges. The dad-of-two said of her appearance on the podcast: "The conversation was so brutal at times that we wanted to get up and walk out of the room." He also noted that Ariel intends to be more private online, while also keeping their family life off the internet compared to before.
He explained that they were able to work with a therapist on what did and didn't work about their marriage, with both doubting whether they'd be able to survive it together. "It's certainly stronger than it was before. We have a much clearer sense of boundaries – understanding and respecting each other's boundaries – as well as integrity and being direct with each other, even when it might be unpleasant."
The aftermath
"For a long time, I wanted nothing to do with social media or the internet," Ned noted of his initial reaction to the scandal, which also included an oft-parodied sit down confessional video from his fellow Try Guys Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld and Eugene Lee Yang (who has since left the company as well). "I didn't think it was particularly beneficial to my mental health."
Since working on rebuilding his marriage and now his career, Ned noted that looking back, he wanted to stray away from the image of himself he'd created online. "I understand that that's why it was such a big scandal – because it's ironic and it feels like a rug pull to people. That must have been really painful and devastating to the viewers."