Can celebrities bounce back from scandal? Disgraced YouTube star Ned Fulmer is the latest to try
Former YouTube star Ned Fulmer is back after a career-ending scandal in 2022. Is his new podcast enough to stage a full return to the spotlight?
Ned Fulmer was at the top of his career in 2022.
Fulmer was one of the founding members of The Try Guys, a quartet of men who made entertaining videos about them trying different things, whether it be wearing women’s underwear or cooking without a recipe. The Try Guys originally formed with Buzzfeed, but gained enough success to start their own company in 2018.
With over 2.5 billion views and 8 million subscribers on YouTube, The Try Guys’ success translated into a book, a national tour, and several podcasts and series under their new company, Second Try, LLC.
Then Fulmer was caught cheating on his wife, Ariel, with a company employee.
Fulmer disappeared from the spotlight after being removed from the company as a result. That is, until last week, when he announced he’d be reentering the limelight with a new podcast called “Rock Bottom,” where he’d speak with people about their lowest moments. His first guest? His ex-wife.
Is a podcast enough to bring back Fulmer’s career? It may be difficult, according to Northeastern experts, especially given how attached people became to his wife through his content.
“One of the main reasons why influencers are successful and differ from traditional celebrities is giving the audience perspective into their private life,” says Amy Pei, an assistant marketing professor at Northeastern University. “It’s establishing that personal connection and creating a very intimate relationship with followers. The followers feel like they are the influencers’ friends and they know every detail in their lives. It gives you that sense of authenticity and intimacy.”
While Fulmer was not an influencer in the traditional sense, he and his wife frequently collaborated both in and outside The Try Guys. In addition to Ariel Fulmer appearing in The Try Guys content and being a part of one of their podcasts, the Fulmers also released a cookbook together and had a podcast about parenting. This gave fans a glimpse into their lives, with many calling him “the wife guy” given how often he brought up his spouse.
The benefit of this type of content is that it increases engagement, said Pei, as people love getting a glimpse of other’s lives, whether it’s hearing about a person’s relationship or getting a home tour. It gets viewers invested in your life.
But it can also backfire if your family becomes part of your brand and then implodes.
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Vance Ricks, a teaching professor of philosophy and computer science at Northeastern University who has done research on parasociality, says audience members are convinced of the authenticity of people when they open up online.
As such, they can feel betrayed when it turns out the person they’re following is not who they made themself out to be. This turned out to be the case when Fulmer, who portrayed himself as a family man and “wife guy,” had an extramarital affair.
“There are people who, at least in their language and framing, are saying you’re getting an unvarnished look at the real them,” Ricks said. “If that’s the approach somebody is taking, it’s hard then to be surprised that people say ‘Oh well, you told me this is who you are and it was a lie.’ The whole mountain of money they’re sitting on top of was built by fandom and selling a particular image that people bought. So those people have a right, I think, to feel like ‘this is not who I thought you were.’”
The Fulmers addressed the disconnect between their personal and private life in the first episode of “Rock Bottom.” While Ariel Fulmer expressed a desire to stay out of the spotlight going forward, Ned Fulmer said he plans to create content as an interviewer and shift away from including his personal life in the content he creates.
Instead, “Rock Bottom” promises listeners conversations with comedians, creators, authors and celebrities about how they “not only survived it all but transformed their lives.”’
But is this enough to win back over viewers? Peter Mancusi, communications crisis manager and associate teaching professor of journalism at Northeastern University, says it depends on how well Fulmer can pull it off.
“It used to be said that there are no second acts in American life,” adds Mancusi. “Now we know there are second and third acts. What I find intriguing is he’s going to start a podcast that recognizes and leverages it, not only to come back himself, but to talk with other people who have been disgraced. It’s a really interesting idea.”
Mancusi said there are numerous public figures who have made “comebacks.”
Martha Stewart was able to continue her career as a lifestyle guru after going to prison. Kevin Hart remained in the public eye after apologizing for homophobic posts of his that resurfaced and led to him bowing out of hosting the Oscars. Robert Downey Jr. also managed to save his reputation after getting treatment for his addiction.
Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern thrust into the spotlight for her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton, also began a podcast called “Reclaiming” with Wondery. Launched earlier this year, the highly-rated show features guests talking about something that shaped their life.
This type of comeback can be done through “skillful public relations” and sometimes, by doing as Fulmer is doing and leveraging a past public low point.
“Whether he’s skillful enough to pull it off remains to be seen,” Mancusi added. “It depends on the skill and abilities of the person. But if you don’t try to control the narrative, everyone else will.”
