Try Harder, Guys.
If you are on any side of the Tik Tok that I’m on, you’ll notice the numerous amounts of content dedicated to the most hated man on the internet (this week): Ned Fulmer.
Ned Fulmer was one of the four founders of the internet sensation the Try Guys, a group of charming-ish, goofy dudes who try anything and everything for the sake of laughs and exploration. These four men have been taking YouTube by storm for the last eight years.
The company’s first very public scandal broke the internet last weekend, when it was revealed that Ned was participating in a “consensual workplace relationship” (according to his Instagram apology statement) and therefore had been cheating on his wife of 10 years, Ariel. This heartbreaking reveal made fans question the authenticity for Ned’s public declarations of love for his wife. Along with the recent public reveal of Maroon Five’s Adam Levine cheating scandal on his pregnant spouse has the internet (and me) the morality of men in the public eye.
It’s sad to admit that as sad as these two infidelity scandals, it doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s the relationships that are romanticized the most in the public eye, and by the couple themselves that seem to have the worst outcomes. Let’s not have us forget Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, or Beyonce and Jay Z. Sure, both Miranda’s and Beyonce have used these cheating scandals to their musical advantage, but it’s frankly disappointing to see how quickly we forgive famous men for cheating so publicly on their partners.
Sure, Adam Levine and Ned are in the trenches of cruel memes and articles, but I guarantee that both will be back in the favorable public eye within the next year. That’s how the cycle works. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t forgive, but we too easily forget.
Who’s getting the short end of the stick? The women. Ariel Fulmer, mother of two, now must consider her next steps for herself and her family, while also consuming the public’s cycle of opinions. It’s one thing to have your husband cheat on you, it’s another to have the world in on it.
What am I, are we supposed to be taking away from this? I don’t know. Challenge men to do better? Don’t cheat on your pregnant wife? Don’t cheat on your wife? Remember that we still live in a society rooted in misogyny?
Personally, I’m taking away an opinion that I already held; famous men are always sketchy until proven otherwise. Men in positions of power, even if it’s slight internet fame, have some sort of complex that makes them believe they can get away with anything. And that? Sucks.
