The ‘Try Guys’ SNL Parody Is Being Slammed For Making Light Of Ned Fulmer’s Affair
"This skit says way more about SNL's workplace environment than it ever will about The Try Guys."
The three remaining members of the YouTube comedy outfit Try Guys have been parodied in a sketch from Saturday Night Live (SNL), which satirises the dour apology video made by the group in response to Ned Fulmer’s extramarital affair.
Funnily enough, there’s nothing more political than a joke. Following the revelation that YouTube comedian and seemingly devout wife guy Ned Fulmer had been secretly dating an employee, and a subsequent apology video made by the remaining members was memefied to hell for Eugene Lee Yang’s embodiment of LGBTQI+ rage, the controversy has finally snowballed into subject matter that the writers room at SNL decided was worthy of a sketch.
But instead of Fulmer’s adultery being the punchline of the joke, SNL chose to lampoon the actual apology video made by the three remaining Try Guys, Eugene Lee Yang, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld.
Did SNL just gaslight the Try Guys?
— Leith Valkyrian ? Warrior of Adamantoise ? (@LeithValkyrian) October 9, 2022
The sketch reimagines the apology video taking place live on a circuit news show, with an exacerbated television anchor (Ego Nwodim) played for laughs as she struggles to understand the importance of a story she deems to be just a couple of millionaires complaining about nothing.
“So the full story is that your friend had a side chick and you fired him?” asks Nwodim.
“Yes, and we hope he is somewhere on his back with a bullet in his brain and belly!” fires back Eugene, played by Bowen Yang.
“You have to remember the power dynamics, he’s a Try Guy and she’s a Food Baby!” stresses actor Brendan Gleeson, played here for laughs as a White House correspondent and Try Guys super fan who abandons a segment on US/Russian relations to cover the “breaking news” of the cheating scandal.
this skit says way more about snl’s workplace environment than it ever will about the try guys’ https://t.co/xUVYWDcTCP
— right where you left me warrior (@dontblameklara) October 9, 2022
While, yes, this contrarian take is tempting to adopt for those who are already wearied by the cacophony of drama caused by a couple of very niche YouTubers, the politics of the joke have been criticised by those who expected better from America’s supposed leading satirists.
I should not care this much but snl doing a try guys bit where they make fun of NOT Ned but the other three for holding him accountable for all his shit and being hurt by it is so nasty like pls tell me more abt how funny you think a man cheating on his wife with his employee is
— emily???
(@emiliniumfalcon) October 9, 2022
snl making a skit about the tryguys situation and making fun of the guys instead of the guy who fucking cheated is insane but not surprising given their history. #tryguys pic.twitter.com/xbQT9J3YEB
— elliot ? envy adams coded (@feralpixies) October 9, 2022
Partners of the Try Guys have even weighed in on the SNL sketch, with Becky Habersberger playfully suggesting that Fulmer’s alleged friendship with a writer on the comedy show could have influenced the direction of the skit.
Anyone remember the Trypod episode where he talks about his Yale friend who writes for SNL…asking for a friend
— Becky Habersberger (@becksmecks) October 9, 2022
Ironically, even if the whole point of SNL‘s sketch was to dismiss the Try Guys’ cheating saga as insignificant in the wake of events like the women’s revolution in Iran and the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war, they’ve provided the YouTube scandal with fresh fuel to keep controversy running for days to come.