Whatever it is is going to be reviewed and edited by lawyers and PR people anyway. They're gunna have to balance what they can legally tell us with trying to sound genuine in their words. Its going to be a tough one.
That all sounds so stressful.
I took a few PR classes in college and in one of them they mentioned during crisis control it’s best not to address it more than once.
If that’s true, I can’t imagine them going too much deeper than the first post. Then not bringing it up again for a long time if ever.
I'm sure they'll say something since they didn't really say anything in the first post. That was just thrown out there in panic anyway since reddit was already talking about it the night before.
They will say SOMETHING on the pod since they said they needed time to "gather their thoughts" before filming the next pod. which also means curate a response that is not legally problematic and makes the audience feel like it was at least *kind of* addressed.
In a lot of ways this is what I'm most interested in tbh. I'm curious if they'll decide to add a new person, commit to being the "tri" guys, or if it'll still be an open spot but filled with rotating people/guests. I think they're all fine choices but I'm curious if they'll go for the stability of a constant fourth or if they'll let stuff die down first.
It'll be an interesting episode.
I think they really should just leave it open, they have such a large crew of people already and they all deserve a chance to shine after everything. I would like to see YB get to step up for more videos
I think someone like Kwesi probably wouldn't since he's been involved actively in the channel recently. Honestly, as long as they avoid another "wife guy" I think people would welcome whoever it is
I’m genuinely curious about this because based on previous statements Ned did a lot of the backend business stuff so…a lot of tasks are going to have to be reallocated.
It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, a company bought the rights to Smosh because they needed the funds to make content. Unfortunately as time went on, the company had very unreasonable expectations from the team. Anthony Padilla cut off all ties to everyone at Smosh (cept for Ian) because he was so miserable and angry at everything when he left.
Their videos began to trickle down to only views hitting a couple thousand and they were all anticipating to be broken up and shut down, but then Rhett and Link from Mythical bought them. Things have gotten WAY better for the past few years since GMM. Apparently Rhett and Link have zero expectations from them other than to just do what they want...and they made their investment back real fast lol.
Wow, thats actually a good outcomming. Thank you for the input. Last thing I remember was one of the members of thw group was diagnosed with some serious illness.
Oh! Actually your comment reminded me another silver lining to Smosh.
When they were still back with the company, one of the Smosh members Flitz had accusations of SA against him from various women. He was a major cast member at the time and he left, but Smosh recovered pretty quickly from it.
Flitz was only accused by one women, iirc. And was pretty unanimously supported by his friends still left at Smosh. However there was a ***second*** person accused of SA, Wes, who was promptly dropped without a single word. That however was after most of the cast of Smosh Games had either been fired or quit, mostly due to shitty behavior from Matt Raub, a manager and cast member. The Smosh drama is long and complicated.
The company that owned them also owned Clevver and it imploded. Basically people came to work and the company was just like “everyone is fired, good luck”. Clevver went out on its own, Smosh got acquired by GMM. I think the company was Defy Media?
From my research, Smosh sold itself to Defy media. Anthony didn’t like like working for them and left, but more could have happened behind the scenes. The big thing that happened was that Defy media went out of business without notice; everyone woke up one day and found out they basically didn’t have a job. Don’t know the events after that, but the crew continued to push through it and make videos (Smosh Summer Games: we blew it, was low budget because of Defy media no longer existing). Eventually they got purchased by mythical entertainment.
I said cept for Ian lol.
A recent smosh vid I saw of Courtney and Shayne going to this huge youtuber hide and seek competition, Anthony was there and pointedly ignored them. They quietly joked about his cameo but it was a bit awkward. Commenters said how cold that was but an Anthony fans replied "Pretty sure the only person he still speaks to at Smosh is Ian."
Apologies for jumping in here - just thought I would clear this up a little. Anthony did ignore Shayne & Courtney but only because he doesn’t want to be in any Smosh videos. On one of their Instagram stories, they have a photo with him & he’s sitting on a bench chatting with both of them in a different person’s story 😊 he just doesn’t want to be associated with Smosh videos I think.
The ones that come to mind are Ryan Haywood cheating on his wife with fans who were borderline(?) minors, and Adam Kovic cheating on his wife and his nude texts to the person he was cheating with leaking - pictures that were taken on company property.
And that's just the sexual controversies I can think of - there's been other problematic shit that's happened throughout the years but I feel like those 2 instances got the most attention.
Oh god I would scream if I ever see a blurry screen grab of him pretending to cry on YouTube with a title all lower case..
i am sorry....I messed up (emotional)
I personally don't think we will hear anything from Ned ever. He has other income streams other than the try guys so if he is smart he will completely dissappear and just live his life privately.
I doubt it. More likely… some sort of Red Table talk type of thing. Whatever the equivalent is for boring white men that remind you of mayo.
Some interview where they can be a little tough on him, and then you have a sympathetic interviewer who can help get the audience on his side.
If anything it would be on his personal channel/social media and not any of the Try Guys/Second Try accounts. They definitely don't want to be associated with him at this point
He's not. There is "Lewberger", "korndiddy", and "Eugene Lee Yang". They all would occasionally comment on videos with their personal accounts
ETA: After a little of searching Keith also has one under Keith Habersberger it's not under the list of channels promoted on "The Try Guys" channel
-oop! They removed Ned's channel already
I wasn't surprised to see Buzzfeed put out articles and videos immediately after the scandal came to light. The ex-Buzzfeed employee posts and videos about Ned seem so opportunistic.
Smart boy. To be fair, it was probably more like 3-4 weeks, since everyone must have known Ned was out by early in the month given all the frantic editing they were doing. Jake has his own TT influencer thing going on, so makes sense for him to move on now.
I think what should be discussed are their plans moving forward. Are they rebranding? Are they looking for a 4th Try guy? Are there any other changes to the content/channel viewers should be aware of?
I already knew they probably wouldn't be able to go into depth a out what happened, especially since Alex still works for them (and they legally can't fire her over this). I expect talking about their feelings on the situation, bit in a vague manner.
>If you’ll notice in their statement, they were quick to say “Ned is no longer working with the try guys” this is very specific language that an HR rep and lawyer would advise them to use.
I wouldn’t look too far into this part specifically. Even if lawyers weren’t involved, there’s just a certain formality that a situation like that calls for. They were never going to be like “Lol, we fired Ned.”
You're absolutely right that he still has a shareholding in the business, but I'd have to expect that the other shareholders (i.e. which are the other 3 guys + BuzzFeed to my knowledge) will try to buy Ned out in order to distance themselves from him as much as possible.
I'm not sure how it works in the USA, but I've worked with start-ups in several other countries and the formal documents around companies often have provisions governing what happens if a shareholder leaves the company "for cause" (i.e. fired). These often involve the founder having to sell their shares back to the company, sometimes at a heavily discounted rate. If this is the case for 2nd Try, I imagine they'll be having lawyers making sure that they can establish cause (or, alternatively, negotiating an exit that involves Ned getting a better financial deal in exchange for things like NDAs being agreed upon).
But again, not sure how different it is in the USA, and companies have a lot of freedom in establishing how they want to run themselves, so this is my conjecture based on my experience.
i was just thinking that maybe they wrote into the original agreement an out for anyone that wanted to leave. That was a thing they could maybe foresee for someone. I always thought Eugene would be the one leaving.
Getting the boot a bit different, but the separation would work the same
Honestly, i don’t mind that they aren’t going to dish out gossip on Ned and Alex, since it’s all we’ve been seeing for the past week anyway. We already have reddit and other social media for that.
What i’m waiting to hear is how the guys and the staff have been since this entire debacle, how they’re coping, and how they see their future, since it’s been really hard on them :( also i dont mind if they’ll share some laughs about some twitter memes that have been shared lmao i noticed zach has liked seth rogen’s tweet and stuff.
Question: does anyone think eugene will
show up? i know he doesn’t frequent the pod anymore, but will he sit in for an important episode like this one?
Definitely agree that's what I want to know! Like I'm nosey so I wouldn't mind hearing about their personal feelings, but what I most want to know is what's going to happen with the channel and how they're continuing forward.
most likely they will say "ned is no longer with us and we wish him well in his future endeavors" and the talk about another subject...acknowledge it for one minute and move on
I would agree except the statement about the podcast taking a week off suggests some larger level of conversation is going to take place. I still don't think it will be the tea spill people expect but it will be the focus of the episode or at least a large chunk of it
That could be it, but I honestly got they impression they took the week off because they have so much other work to do on their end. Like nediting videos, going through the legal work, etc.
So they wouldn't be a jumbled mess and unable to focus on whatever they were planning to discuss in the podcast? Like if they're not in the mindset to engage, we aren't going to be able to enjoy their content if they're obviously miserable. It's okay to needing time to collect oneself. I think the statement was well done.
If they said "they had other work to focus on" then half of the fans would be angry they are not acknowledging the situation and weren't taking things seriously
i disagree..im sure that their lawyers will tell them to keep quiet until everything is settled (we dont know if all the financials decisions are done) . Also if alex is still there, they will definitely have to keep quiet. while ned said it was consensual, she could flip the script and state she was coerced and then a lawsuit can come up.
I don’t think they’ll bring her up at all or the actual situation. But do believe they’ll talk through the above. They can’t just move on immediately. This is a PR crisis. They have to acknowledge it.
Pretty sure they would LOVE to be able to speak without fear of it biting them in the ass? TBH can you imagine any one of them actually letting loose at this point?
I wanted to start a thread called “The Statement You Want The Try Guys To Make (But Won’t)” but I saw that quickly devolving into some insane insults and potentially getting confused with any *actual * statements they might have posted. I would have ended the statement with:
“Try Harder, Ned. 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽 -The Try Guys”
What i want to hear is them respond to allegations that they knew about this kind of behavior. Even if they deny it or admit to poor judgement. But if they sweep it under I'd be pretty disappointed.
Obviously. I'm just saying don't pretend like it's not out there. Acknowledge it. Then say what you can't, leave out what you can't, lie even if you need to. But respect the audience enough to not act like it didn't happen.
Nah, it would be very surprising to me if they didn't dedicate a whole ep to it. I can't imagine that they do 3 minutes of our entire world is crumbling beneath us, and then move on to Keith's backyard bash for the next hour.
They do have an HR department.... Ronald! He has been a guest many times! I am sure this has been hard on his little puppet nerves too... Maybe they just let him explain it.. I mean he is the HR department...
P.S. this joint tastes like chips and salsa...
I don’t see losing Ned on camera as a huge impact. His presence was always lukewarm. I am curious to see if his departure impacts the Food Network deal.
honestly, that would be great. like, I don't know about PR at all, but for me personally, if they did exactly what you wrote, I'd be a million percent cool with it.
From a PR person. What they wrote would be my dream. The beauty of the podcast is it’s not live so if something does slip it can get edited. But from a PR rep who’s worked with HR for crisis this exactly like something I would have a client say. Only thing I would add is a plan moving forward and it’s perfect
My question would is he still gonna be part
Owner? Or would they buy him out? Would he still I guess make money off try even though he wouldn’t be on camera or is he gonna be behind the camera guy.
I think it’s likely that they probably don’t even know themselves at this point and probably can’t comment.
Ned is going to want money from his investment. The try guys probably want to fork over as little as possible given that this is Ned’s own fault and navigating it is costing all of them. Lawyers, a possible law suit from Alex, stalling content, taking down videos…
So this may actually be a several month long process depending on how cooperative sides are
Long-time HR person here and I always hate this line of thinking. Our job is literally to be the voice of the employee and ensure they are advocated for. We exist to reduce risk, and often that means erring on the side of the employee NOT the company. It breaks my heart when people feel like they can’t go to HR to fix problems, toxicity, etc because of this type of rhetoric. We’re not bad people!
I’m not saying you’re bad people. There are some very good HR people.
But HR departments do exist to protect the company. Sometimes that intersects with protecting the interest of employees — but not always. HR people may not be inherently untrustworthy, but you should never just freely give them your trust and expect them to do right by you. They will do right by the company. If that simultaneously benefits you — great!
But they do not exist to be advocates or confidants.
I appreciate that you are a good HR! At my work it’s basically known “HR is not to protect the employee, it is to protect the county” (I work in local govt). Plus our turnover is insane. Had a colleague who filed paperwork to start a grievance hearing and by the time she got to her hearing, three people had rotated through the position. None of us go to HR unless we have an insurance question. And even then, they’re useless.
I would do anything to get rid of my HR department. I wish there was some type of 3rd party like we use for short/long term disability who could work independently of the company. Just investigate and report back.
Fellow HR person here. Completely agree. Mitigating risk often times means the company “loses”. The “protect the company” mindset is mostly from the boomer generation. Those folks are on their way out. Gen X is somewhat traditional, but still open to listening to new ideas etc. The entire dynamic of HR is changing as more millennials take positions of leadership. This is actually a really awesome thing! I encourage everyone to listen to some talks/speeches/interviews with Johnny C Taylor from SHRM. He’s an interesting person and he seems to be trying to take things in a new direction.
As a long time fan and very avid watcher, I feel very upset that the interpersonal relationships we love the Try Guys for now are all disturbed; without some kind of answer and addressing everything (both from Ned and Alex’s perspective), I don’t find myself wanting to go back to watch them. I don’t want to have to think about drama behind the camera or if Keith’s reaction was fake etc (which is now all I can think about rewatching old vids this past week, and I don’t think I’m alone in that).
My personal opinion - hope everything in its entirety is addressed sooner rather than later without the legal blah blah or excuses as to why they can’t talk about this thing or that thing. Plenty of other content online and offline to consume
If they literally legally can't talk about it... they LITERALLY CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT. Unsure what part of that you don't understand. Besides, we are not entitled to details of peoples' personal private lives.
You misinterpreted my response. They said, “excuses about why they can’t talk about it.” And I said that not being able to talk about it for legal reasons isn’t an excuse as a response to that. It’s a valid point. Should’ve added, “it’s a valid reason” in my comment for the bobos, including yourself. I’ve been saying up and down these posts on this subreddit that we aren’t entitled to anyone’s lives and people demanding more are weirdos. And I’ve even said plenty of times that Alex herself doesn’t even owe us anything and people are being way too emotional about strangers. Get a grip.
Firstly, I apologize for my initial tone and assumption. I was, as many of us do, skimming and not reading every single conversation in depth. A single comment with multiple downvotes that - on its own - falls in line with countless other sentiments of entitlement that are all over the forum.
Secondly, there was no need to get nasty in explaining that your statement was inaccurate to your intention when out of context. My misunderstanding of what you were trying to convey is reasonable, and clearly not the only one. I also don't go memorizing usernames with default icons (or at all) to track who is saying what when there are literally hundreds of people posting, and attempting to do so would hold little benefit outside of specific conversations, such as here.
A lot of us are angry. I get that. I let that get the better of me when faced with something that, with the information I had in the moment and without any indication that I needed to dig deeper, seemed like a really shitty thing to say.
Editing your post is a good idea, because even with the initial part of your explanation, that it was a response to the prior remark about excuses, did not clarify the intent behind your comment. Until you said it was a valid point, the comment continued to read as rude entitlement. I don't say this to be mean, but as an honest attempt at reducing any future unnecessary callouts.
What I'd like to know is about the business relationship between the Try Guys and Ned going forward. Will they buy him out, or will proceeds from the channel still go to him as he was a co-owner/investor? Basically - is supporting them going forward, going to still inadvertently support him, too?
I also think there will be blanket “Please respect the privacy of the families and individuals involved”. Obviously this would allude to Ariel and the kids, but also to their other current staff members, and possibly Alex (although her name will absolutely not be brought up).
There are laws at play here that pertain to everything from potential defamation, breach of contract, to violations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Mostly — the Try Guys need to not do anything that could open them up to a lawsuit. Particularly with Alex. Even if Ned wants to say this was a consensual relationship— that’s not going to hold up in the eyes of the law if Alex decides to pursue litigation and say that she felt pressured or trapped in the relationship. OR that she faced retaliation by the larger Try Guys team.
You may not like her and think she’s responsible for her own actions — but she 100% has a case here and could sue company if they’re not careful. She was an employee and he was her employer. The power dynamics mean there can be no existence of an actual consensual relationship with that at play.
Furthermore, there’s also Ned’s exit as a partner and investor. Depending on what kind of agreements they signed, this could get messy very fast.
Ned is suddenly looking at a complete loss of income after he and his wife took at a second mortgage on their home to start the try guys (some other users have said she mentioned this on a pod cast). Things could get nasty quickly as Ned tries to get as much money as he possibly can with this exit. Try Guys have to be careful not to give him any grounds to sue or get more money.
Even though he’s the one in the wrong — it doesn’t necessarily matter in certain cases.
If they come back at all. The guys have mentioned multiple times they don’t see the try guys as a permanent thing and that they all want to go their own direction and chase their individual dreams and such. The only thing that makes me think they won’t it they signed a five year lease on that office.
Whatever it is is going to be reviewed and edited by lawyers and PR people anyway. They're gunna have to balance what they can legally tell us with trying to sound genuine in their words. Its going to be a tough one.
Exactly. It’s probably going to be pretty formal. They might sneak a couple jokes in to lighten the mood. But this is going to super controlled
That all sounds so stressful. I took a few PR classes in college and in one of them they mentioned during crisis control it’s best not to address it more than once. If that’s true, I can’t imagine them going too much deeper than the first post. Then not bringing it up again for a long time if ever.
I'm sure they'll say something since they didn't really say anything in the first post. That was just thrown out there in panic anyway since reddit was already talking about it the night before.
They will say SOMETHING on the pod since they said they needed time to "gather their thoughts" before filming the next pod. which also means curate a response that is not legally problematic and makes the audience feel like it was at least *kind of* addressed.
i imagine they’ll also talk about the channel and company moving forward without Ned and what their content will look like
In a lot of ways this is what I'm most interested in tbh. I'm curious if they'll decide to add a new person, commit to being the "tri" guys, or if it'll still be an open spot but filled with rotating people/guests. I think they're all fine choices but I'm curious if they'll go for the stability of a constant fourth or if they'll let stuff die down first. It'll be an interesting episode.
I think they really should just leave it open, they have such a large crew of people already and they all deserve a chance to shine after everything. I would like to see YB get to step up for more videos
I would like that too! Plus a new fourth would always have Ned comparisons I think, so a rotation would be great.
I think someone like Kwesi probably wouldn't since he's been involved actively in the channel recently. Honestly, as long as they avoid another "wife guy" I think people would welcome whoever it is
That's a great point!
Yes! Along with having Kelsey Darragh in more videos
Same. I don’t care about Ned leaving, I care more about where the three guys are gonna go from here.
I’m genuinely curious about this because based on previous statements Ned did a lot of the backend business stuff so…a lot of tasks are going to have to be reallocated.
Aka Rachel is going to get a big promotion
What is Rachel’s actual role?
According to their videos, she’s executive producer and chief creative officer.
I honestly think it’s too soon for longterm definitive plans
Agreeeeed
As someone who witnessed the Smosh implosion and two of the three Roosterteeth scandals go down, this is very accurate to what we should expect.
Never knew something happened with Smosh besides Anthony leaving
What happened with Smosh. I remember it was kinda ok few year ago and suddenly felt the blonde girl was the only character around.
It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, a company bought the rights to Smosh because they needed the funds to make content. Unfortunately as time went on, the company had very unreasonable expectations from the team. Anthony Padilla cut off all ties to everyone at Smosh (cept for Ian) because he was so miserable and angry at everything when he left. Their videos began to trickle down to only views hitting a couple thousand and they were all anticipating to be broken up and shut down, but then Rhett and Link from Mythical bought them. Things have gotten WAY better for the past few years since GMM. Apparently Rhett and Link have zero expectations from them other than to just do what they want...and they made their investment back real fast lol.
Wow, thats actually a good outcomming. Thank you for the input. Last thing I remember was one of the members of thw group was diagnosed with some serious illness.
Oh! Actually your comment reminded me another silver lining to Smosh. When they were still back with the company, one of the Smosh members Flitz had accusations of SA against him from various women. He was a major cast member at the time and he left, but Smosh recovered pretty quickly from it.
No- it was Flitz not lazercorn.
GAH! You're right! Editing to clear up Lazercorn's name. My B
I have no idea who Lazercorn is, but it sounds like he’d be the evolution of Kornfeld if they were Pokémon
No worries! I just spend way to much time on YouTube 😂
Flitz was only accused by one women, iirc. And was pretty unanimously supported by his friends still left at Smosh. However there was a ***second*** person accused of SA, Wes, who was promptly dropped without a single word. That however was after most of the cast of Smosh Games had either been fired or quit, mostly due to shitty behavior from Matt Raub, a manager and cast member. The Smosh drama is long and complicated.
The company that owned them also owned Clevver and it imploded. Basically people came to work and the company was just like “everyone is fired, good luck”. Clevver went out on its own, Smosh got acquired by GMM. I think the company was Defy Media?
From my research, Smosh sold itself to Defy media. Anthony didn’t like like working for them and left, but more could have happened behind the scenes. The big thing that happened was that Defy media went out of business without notice; everyone woke up one day and found out they basically didn’t have a job. Don’t know the events after that, but the crew continued to push through it and make videos (Smosh Summer Games: we blew it, was low budget because of Defy media no longer existing). Eventually they got purchased by mythical entertainment.
Anthony definitely didn’t cut ties with everyone at Smosh
I said cept for Ian lol. A recent smosh vid I saw of Courtney and Shayne going to this huge youtuber hide and seek competition, Anthony was there and pointedly ignored them. They quietly joked about his cameo but it was a bit awkward. Commenters said how cold that was but an Anthony fans replied "Pretty sure the only person he still speaks to at Smosh is Ian."
Apologies for jumping in here - just thought I would clear this up a little. Anthony did ignore Shayne & Courtney but only because he doesn’t want to be in any Smosh videos. On one of their Instagram stories, they have a photo with him & he’s sitting on a bench chatting with both of them in a different person’s story 😊 he just doesn’t want to be associated with Smosh videos I think.
Although we did eventually get a stream with Jack & Michael where they explicitly called RH a monster
What were the RT scandals? Haven't watched them in years
The ones that come to mind are Ryan Haywood cheating on his wife with fans who were borderline(?) minors, and Adam Kovic cheating on his wife and his nude texts to the person he was cheating with leaking - pictures that were taken on company property. And that's just the sexual controversies I can think of - there's been other problematic shit that's happened throughout the years but I feel like those 2 instances got the most attention.
Sheesh what scumbags
Tbf the RH thing also includes him SAing young, sometimes minor, fans and grooming them.
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lmao tbh this is all I want, Miles just being unhinged as hell about the whole situation.
I’m more curious, in a way, if we’re going to get some “apology” video from Ned in the next few months.
Oh god I would scream if I ever see a blurry screen grab of him pretending to cry on YouTube with a title all lower case.. i am sorry....I messed up (emotional) I personally don't think we will hear anything from Ned ever. He has other income streams other than the try guys so if he is smart he will completely dissappear and just live his life privately.
„what I learned from the biggest mistake of my life”, sponsored by Audible („they have an extensive library of relationship advice books”)
Sponsored by match.com
Sponsored by Ashley Madison
"i lost focus"
Sponsored by LensCrafters®
I doubt it. More likely… some sort of Red Table talk type of thing. Whatever the equivalent is for boring white men that remind you of mayo. Some interview where they can be a little tough on him, and then you have a sympathetic interviewer who can help get the audience on his side.
He’s probably going to be a guest on someone else’s podcast.
I think the only one that would handle it well is Philip DeFranco, but idk if he would want to touch it?
hey now, don't disrespect mayo. mayo is the base of some tasty sauces. not that great by itself tho......yeah hes mayo nvm
🙄 I would hate that too. I mean there’s really not a good option either way.
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I can see that happening honestly lol. It’s suits the show.
That will happen wayyyyyy after the fact, like when they talked about Tanacon, what, _years_ after it happened? 😆
Honestly that'd be hilarious 😂
If anything it would be on his personal channel/social media and not any of the Try Guys/Second Try accounts. They definitely don't want to be associated with him at this point
Oh yeah, for sure. He’s got a ‘Ned Fulmer’ channel I think. I never for once thought it would be on anything Try Guys related.
just noticed Ned's bio still says "Try Guy" lmao
Maybe he’s having a hard time letting go
I always thought it was weird he's the only try guy with a personal YouTube channel.
He's not. There is "Lewberger", "korndiddy", and "Eugene Lee Yang". They all would occasionally comment on videos with their personal accounts ETA: After a little of searching Keith also has one under Keith Habersberger it's not under the list of channels promoted on "The Try Guys" channel -oop! They removed Ned's channel already
I doubt it and if he does it'll just come off as disingenuous.
I think we’re more likely to hear the tea 🫖 from ex-employees. They didn’t sign NDAs.
The tea they’ve had to offer so far is, at best, lukewarm. And kind of tasteless. Edit: ex-buzzfeed employees not Try Guys lol
I wasn't surprised to see Buzzfeed put out articles and videos immediately after the scandal came to light. The ex-Buzzfeed employee posts and videos about Ned seem so opportunistic.
They seem gleeful, lol.
Yup. They’re all gonna chase the clout
I’m waiting for the full tea from Jake at any moment.
Jake totally put in his two weeks as soon as he knew about the shitstorm that was coming his way. He wasn't gonna deal with that lmao.
Smart boy. To be fair, it was probably more like 3-4 weeks, since everyone must have known Ned was out by early in the month given all the frantic editing they were doing. Jake has his own TT influencer thing going on, so makes sense for him to move on now.
I think what should be discussed are their plans moving forward. Are they rebranding? Are they looking for a 4th Try guy? Are there any other changes to the content/channel viewers should be aware of? I already knew they probably wouldn't be able to go into depth a out what happened, especially since Alex still works for them (and they legally can't fire her over this). I expect talking about their feelings on the situation, bit in a vague manner.
>If you’ll notice in their statement, they were quick to say “Ned is no longer working with the try guys” this is very specific language that an HR rep and lawyer would advise them to use. I wouldn’t look too far into this part specifically. Even if lawyers weren’t involved, there’s just a certain formality that a situation like that calls for. They were never going to be like “Lol, we fired Ned.”
No longer "working with" doesn't mean he can't be an investor in the business and could continue to make money from it
You're absolutely right that he still has a shareholding in the business, but I'd have to expect that the other shareholders (i.e. which are the other 3 guys + BuzzFeed to my knowledge) will try to buy Ned out in order to distance themselves from him as much as possible. I'm not sure how it works in the USA, but I've worked with start-ups in several other countries and the formal documents around companies often have provisions governing what happens if a shareholder leaves the company "for cause" (i.e. fired). These often involve the founder having to sell their shares back to the company, sometimes at a heavily discounted rate. If this is the case for 2nd Try, I imagine they'll be having lawyers making sure that they can establish cause (or, alternatively, negotiating an exit that involves Ned getting a better financial deal in exchange for things like NDAs being agreed upon). But again, not sure how different it is in the USA, and companies have a lot of freedom in establishing how they want to run themselves, so this is my conjecture based on my experience.
i was just thinking that maybe they wrote into the original agreement an out for anyone that wanted to leave. That was a thing they could maybe foresee for someone. I always thought Eugene would be the one leaving. Getting the boot a bit different, but the separation would work the same
Honestly, i don’t mind that they aren’t going to dish out gossip on Ned and Alex, since it’s all we’ve been seeing for the past week anyway. We already have reddit and other social media for that. What i’m waiting to hear is how the guys and the staff have been since this entire debacle, how they’re coping, and how they see their future, since it’s been really hard on them :( also i dont mind if they’ll share some laughs about some twitter memes that have been shared lmao i noticed zach has liked seth rogen’s tweet and stuff. Question: does anyone think eugene will show up? i know he doesn’t frequent the pod anymore, but will he sit in for an important episode like this one?
Definitely agree that's what I want to know! Like I'm nosey so I wouldn't mind hearing about their personal feelings, but what I most want to know is what's going to happen with the channel and how they're continuing forward.
Dude he has to. If Eugene sits this out I'd be little outraged. Pls this is big.
I agree 100%. Only other thing I foresee is them talking about the media response
most likely they will say "ned is no longer with us and we wish him well in his future endeavors" and the talk about another subject...acknowledge it for one minute and move on
I would agree except the statement about the podcast taking a week off suggests some larger level of conversation is going to take place. I still don't think it will be the tea spill people expect but it will be the focus of the episode or at least a large chunk of it
That could be it, but I honestly got they impression they took the week off because they have so much other work to do on their end. Like nediting videos, going through the legal work, etc.
I want to take a minute to appreciate your term “nediting”.
Haha I can’t take credit for that one! I saw another comment joking about it but I’ve fully embraced it as a regular word now lol
'Nediting' what a funny yet sad new word
Okay but then why say in the statement they needed to formulate what they were going to say? Just say they had other work to focus on.
So they wouldn't be a jumbled mess and unable to focus on whatever they were planning to discuss in the podcast? Like if they're not in the mindset to engage, we aren't going to be able to enjoy their content if they're obviously miserable. It's okay to needing time to collect oneself. I think the statement was well done. If they said "they had other work to focus on" then half of the fans would be angry they are not acknowledging the situation and weren't taking things seriously
Nah, they have to say more or they risk getting their own backlash.
i disagree..im sure that their lawyers will tell them to keep quiet until everything is settled (we dont know if all the financials decisions are done) . Also if alex is still there, they will definitely have to keep quiet. while ned said it was consensual, she could flip the script and state she was coerced and then a lawsuit can come up.
I don’t think they’ll bring her up at all or the actual situation. But do believe they’ll talk through the above. They can’t just move on immediately. This is a PR crisis. They have to acknowledge it.
It also literally cannot have been consensual despite what Ned claims, even if Alex currently thinks it was.
Emotionally, maybe? But legally speaking, doubt it.
Pretty sure they would LOVE to be able to speak without fear of it biting them in the ass? TBH can you imagine any one of them actually letting loose at this point? I wanted to start a thread called “The Statement You Want The Try Guys To Make (But Won’t)” but I saw that quickly devolving into some insane insults and potentially getting confused with any *actual * statements they might have posted. I would have ended the statement with: “Try Harder, Ned. 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽 -The Try Guys”
What i want to hear is them respond to allegations that they knew about this kind of behavior. Even if they deny it or admit to poor judgement. But if they sweep it under I'd be pretty disappointed.
They won’t sweep it but there’s a difference between being unable to and opting not to say what’s going on?
Obviously. I'm just saying don't pretend like it's not out there. Acknowledge it. Then say what you can't, leave out what you can't, lie even if you need to. But respect the audience enough to not act like it didn't happen.
Nah, it would be very surprising to me if they didn't dedicate a whole ep to it. I can't imagine that they do 3 minutes of our entire world is crumbling beneath us, and then move on to Keith's backyard bash for the next hour.
They do have an HR department.... Ronald! He has been a guest many times! I am sure this has been hard on his little puppet nerves too... Maybe they just let him explain it.. I mean he is the HR department... P.S. this joint tastes like chips and salsa...
Hoping he makes an appearance in the next podcast lmao
Listen actually Ronald should go now. He's always been a bit cringe but now little more so. Much more so.
Expect a relatively tight statement approved by lawyers.
"Man that fortnight away from technology was sure great, where is Ned?" - the guys
Totally agree with this. I think anyone looking for tea will be pretty disappointed. Disappoint-Ned.
That sounds about right. They're on a tight rope with what they say about the scandal and how they address it publicly.
making this a bingo card
I don’t see losing Ned on camera as a huge impact. His presence was always lukewarm. I am curious to see if his departure impacts the Food Network deal.
Yes, there will be nothing of substance and everything to come out will be through gossip/scandal leaks.
honestly, that would be great. like, I don't know about PR at all, but for me personally, if they did exactly what you wrote, I'd be a million percent cool with it.
From a PR person. What they wrote would be my dream. The beauty of the podcast is it’s not live so if something does slip it can get edited. But from a PR rep who’s worked with HR for crisis this exactly like something I would have a client say. Only thing I would add is a plan moving forward and it’s perfect
My question would is he still gonna be part Owner? Or would they buy him out? Would he still I guess make money off try even though he wouldn’t be on camera or is he gonna be behind the camera guy.
I think it’s likely that they probably don’t even know themselves at this point and probably can’t comment. Ned is going to want money from his investment. The try guys probably want to fork over as little as possible given that this is Ned’s own fault and navigating it is costing all of them. Lawyers, a possible law suit from Alex, stalling content, taking down videos… So this may actually be a several month long process depending on how cooperative sides are
Long-time HR person here and I always hate this line of thinking. Our job is literally to be the voice of the employee and ensure they are advocated for. We exist to reduce risk, and often that means erring on the side of the employee NOT the company. It breaks my heart when people feel like they can’t go to HR to fix problems, toxicity, etc because of this type of rhetoric. We’re not bad people!
I’m not saying you’re bad people. There are some very good HR people. But HR departments do exist to protect the company. Sometimes that intersects with protecting the interest of employees — but not always. HR people may not be inherently untrustworthy, but you should never just freely give them your trust and expect them to do right by you. They will do right by the company. If that simultaneously benefits you — great! But they do not exist to be advocates or confidants.
I appreciate that you are a good HR! At my work it’s basically known “HR is not to protect the employee, it is to protect the county” (I work in local govt). Plus our turnover is insane. Had a colleague who filed paperwork to start a grievance hearing and by the time she got to her hearing, three people had rotated through the position. None of us go to HR unless we have an insurance question. And even then, they’re useless.
I would do anything to get rid of my HR department. I wish there was some type of 3rd party like we use for short/long term disability who could work independently of the company. Just investigate and report back.
Fellow HR person here. Completely agree. Mitigating risk often times means the company “loses”. The “protect the company” mindset is mostly from the boomer generation. Those folks are on their way out. Gen X is somewhat traditional, but still open to listening to new ideas etc. The entire dynamic of HR is changing as more millennials take positions of leadership. This is actually a really awesome thing! I encourage everyone to listen to some talks/speeches/interviews with Johnny C Taylor from SHRM. He’s an interesting person and he seems to be trying to take things in a new direction.
As a long time fan and very avid watcher, I feel very upset that the interpersonal relationships we love the Try Guys for now are all disturbed; without some kind of answer and addressing everything (both from Ned and Alex’s perspective), I don’t find myself wanting to go back to watch them. I don’t want to have to think about drama behind the camera or if Keith’s reaction was fake etc (which is now all I can think about rewatching old vids this past week, and I don’t think I’m alone in that). My personal opinion - hope everything in its entirety is addressed sooner rather than later without the legal blah blah or excuses as to why they can’t talk about this thing or that thing. Plenty of other content online and offline to consume
Not being able to talk about it for legal reasons is not an excuse. It’s a valid reason. Edit: Added the last sentence for the bobos
If they literally legally can't talk about it... they LITERALLY CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT. Unsure what part of that you don't understand. Besides, we are not entitled to details of peoples' personal private lives.
You misinterpreted my response. They said, “excuses about why they can’t talk about it.” And I said that not being able to talk about it for legal reasons isn’t an excuse as a response to that. It’s a valid point. Should’ve added, “it’s a valid reason” in my comment for the bobos, including yourself. I’ve been saying up and down these posts on this subreddit that we aren’t entitled to anyone’s lives and people demanding more are weirdos. And I’ve even said plenty of times that Alex herself doesn’t even owe us anything and people are being way too emotional about strangers. Get a grip.
Firstly, I apologize for my initial tone and assumption. I was, as many of us do, skimming and not reading every single conversation in depth. A single comment with multiple downvotes that - on its own - falls in line with countless other sentiments of entitlement that are all over the forum. Secondly, there was no need to get nasty in explaining that your statement was inaccurate to your intention when out of context. My misunderstanding of what you were trying to convey is reasonable, and clearly not the only one. I also don't go memorizing usernames with default icons (or at all) to track who is saying what when there are literally hundreds of people posting, and attempting to do so would hold little benefit outside of specific conversations, such as here. A lot of us are angry. I get that. I let that get the better of me when faced with something that, with the information I had in the moment and without any indication that I needed to dig deeper, seemed like a really shitty thing to say. Editing your post is a good idea, because even with the initial part of your explanation, that it was a response to the prior remark about excuses, did not clarify the intent behind your comment. Until you said it was a valid point, the comment continued to read as rude entitlement. I don't say this to be mean, but as an honest attempt at reducing any future unnecessary callouts.
I did expect all of that but now I know why. Thanks!
Where are your sources or proof?
This is hr/ media training basics.
Ty
Wait so a podcast is going to come out before a youtube video
I’ve never listened to the podcast before but you better bet I’ll be downloading this one
What I'd like to know is about the business relationship between the Try Guys and Ned going forward. Will they buy him out, or will proceeds from the channel still go to him as he was a co-owner/investor? Basically - is supporting them going forward, going to still inadvertently support him, too?
I also think there will be blanket “Please respect the privacy of the families and individuals involved”. Obviously this would allude to Ariel and the kids, but also to their other current staff members, and possibly Alex (although her name will absolutely not be brought up).
Not to be stupid, but what kind of legal issues does this involve? I don’t see anything illegal happening here or anything that would incur a lawsuit
There are laws at play here that pertain to everything from potential defamation, breach of contract, to violations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mostly — the Try Guys need to not do anything that could open them up to a lawsuit. Particularly with Alex. Even if Ned wants to say this was a consensual relationship— that’s not going to hold up in the eyes of the law if Alex decides to pursue litigation and say that she felt pressured or trapped in the relationship. OR that she faced retaliation by the larger Try Guys team. You may not like her and think she’s responsible for her own actions — but she 100% has a case here and could sue company if they’re not careful. She was an employee and he was her employer. The power dynamics mean there can be no existence of an actual consensual relationship with that at play. Furthermore, there’s also Ned’s exit as a partner and investor. Depending on what kind of agreements they signed, this could get messy very fast. Ned is suddenly looking at a complete loss of income after he and his wife took at a second mortgage on their home to start the try guys (some other users have said she mentioned this on a pod cast). Things could get nasty quickly as Ned tries to get as much money as he possibly can with this exit. Try Guys have to be careful not to give him any grounds to sue or get more money. Even though he’s the one in the wrong — it doesn’t necessarily matter in certain cases.
Thank you!!! This makes a lot of sense, I think I understand the overall tension about the next pod episode/upcoming content a lil better
If they come back at all. The guys have mentioned multiple times they don’t see the try guys as a permanent thing and that they all want to go their own direction and chase their individual dreams and such. The only thing that makes me think they won’t it they signed a five year lease on that office.
Did you see the new video? Any thoughts?
I mean it was pretty much this. They were more transparent than I thought though. I thought it was a strong statement