Try Guys: The “Wife Guy” Is Out
Celebrities are not as perfect as we’d wish them to be
As the consumption of celebrity changes, so does our attitude towards popular figures. During the Shakespearean era, actors were seen as the lowest rung of society and deemed a threat to a peaceful society. Nowadays, we idolize online personalities, obsessing over every detail of their lives. Celebrities capitalize on this, and are packaged to the public like prettily-tied gifts in exchange for money and branding. Despite their best efforts, however, they eventually turn out to be human beings who make mistakes. When you see your favorite celebrities turn unfamiliar, the disappointment is immense.
Recently, Ned Fulmer of the Buzzfeed Try Guys has been under fire for a cheating scandal with his associate producer Alexandria Herring. Many, many famous men cheat, but not all of them revolve their brand around their connection with their wife.
Ned has a heavily documented, overzealous love for his wife, and he has mentioned her often over the span of his Try Guys career. Ned has repeatedly branded himself under the stereotype of a loving husband, selling a facade of the perfect relationship with his wife Ariel Fulmer.
In fact, the two of them have given talks to various universities, including to Santa Clara in 2020, about the Ethics of Good Relationships. Sara Eckles, a 2021 alumnus, recalls the talk, reflecting on the couple’s thoughts about healthy relationships.
“They talked about making sacrifices and how a good and healthy relationship has to be about giving selflessly, otherwise it won’t work,” Eckles said. “I definitely question his advice now that everything has come out.”
According to Eckles, the couple said that they “would do things to add stress/challenge to their relationship.” Ned and Ariel referred to a video in which they broke up for a week that got 14 million views. The emphasis and monetization of their relationship suggests the importance of getting views from it.
Their relationship has been public for more than 6 years, invoking support, admiration and clicks for their close and seemingly healthy connection. While the talk is ironic in retrospect, it reveals the idealized nature and influence of the Fulmers, and emphasizes that we place far too much importance on celebrities’ personal life.
Ned and other celebrity men who sell this product of a “wife guy” set a low standard for men. Basic acts like male loyalty should not be congratulated to the extent that they are. However, with social media attention towards this scandal, the previously admired concept of the wife guy is heading towards the door.
Additionally, with the rapid growth of social media, recent generations (especially Gen Z) care more about online celebrities than those in Hollywood. We build stronger parasocial relationships with online celebrities versus Hollywood celebrities due to the casual format in which online celebrities are presented to us. In other words, we feel closer to online celebrities because a relationship with them seems more attainable than with Hollywood celebrities.
We put these online celebrities on a pedestal, preferring to strip away their human flaws in favor of the image we want to see. However, the disappointment of their wrongdoings is more crushing as we build these one-sided relationships.
Nevertheless, we shouldn’t hold the mistakes they make against them – as long as they hold themselves accountable. As quick as we are to eat up all the good associated with a celebrity, we are even quicker to disparage them, forgetting that they are human beings, too.
The next time you start placing a celebrity in a realm beyond your own, remember that you are being sold a product when you should be looking at a person.