So at this point, I’m sure we’ve all heard about the Try Guys Scandal, where Ned Fulmer, a co-founder and longtime friend of Zach Kornfeld, Eugene Lee Yang, and Keith Habersberger, cheated on his wife of 10 years, Ariel Fulmer, with an employee (speculated to have been Alexandria Herring, who was ENGAGED and had been with said fiancee for 10 years). The initial rumor started in a Reddit thread to which many people came forward and revealed they had seen the two at many public events together, including a Harry Styles concert.
On September 27th of this year, the Try Guys and Ned came forward and revealed that Ned had been terminated from the company.
I could go more into the story and all that happened, but if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past month, I’m sure you get the gist. Now, how does SNL play into this?
On October 9th, during the regular run of their Saturday Night Live performance, a sketch was shown addressing the Try Guys Scandal. And, needless to say, it really missed the mark.
Quite honestly, I tried to sit down and watch the complete sketch but couldn’t, it’s just infuriating. From the mocking tone to the deeply unfunny lack of regard for workplace safety, it’s an embarrassing misfire that instead of making us laugh, makes us wonder why they’re trying to downplay all of this. Instead of making a mockery of the person at fault, the sketch attempts to make this all seem like some exaggeration.
Something about this entire sketch screams ‘tone-deaf.’ At one point, the actor playing Zach says, “He committed the heinous act of having a consensual kiss, and didn’t tell us…HIS FRIENDS.” (Zach, by the way, in the original video, appears to be on the verge of tears.)
Twitter users, who are already not the biggest fan of SNL and its unfunny content, sexual misconduct allegations, and general lack of creativity, had a lot to say about the matter.
“I cannot believe SNL made a sketch about the Try Guys thing but explicitly to mock them handling it well? like, not just a topical joke about a bizarre news story, but “haha look at these losers taking unethical behavior in the workplace seriously” (https://twitter.com/9frogsinacoat/status/1579152762537136128?s=20&t=Mj_HQa2ATP33VunKNoTjNQ)
“Everything about the Try Guys SNL sketch is gross but making a gay actor mock another gay man’s very real moment of pain and anger in the most homophobic way possible is fucking despicable” (https://twitter.com/brennenbeckwith/status/1579327703328911361?s=20&t=Mj_HQa2ATP33VunKNoTjNQ)
And to make matters worse, it recently came out that one of the writers of the sketch, Will Stephen, is a longtime friend of Ned Fulmer’s! Well, I guess we know why the whole sketch seemed to aim to downplay the situation.
No matter what you think about SNL or the Try Guys, Human Resource issues like this are a huge deal. Sexual misconduct in the workplace may look different in this situation, however, it is a massive deal to the company as a whole and their collective well-being. I hate to admit it, having been a fan of recent seasons of SNL, but this is where I draw the line.
Bill Hader, I miss you, dude.