H1: What Happened to the Try Guys? A Deep Dive Into the Breakup and Aftermath Guys, explore more in Guides And Explainers and try guys what happened.
The group splintered. That is the only clean way to put it. What happened to the Try Guys is a story of ambition, betrayal, and a slow-burn implosion that played out in real time on YouTube. For millions of fans, watching the four men laugh through elaborate skits felt like a friendship. The collapse of that friendship hit hard.
The separation did not happen overnight. A slow rot set in long before the cameras stopped rolling. The core of the drama centers on BuzzFeed and its infamous internal culture. The internet giant treated its video teams as disposable content units. Creators generated billions of views, yet had no ownership stake. That model collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions.
The Try Guys discovered the hard way that their popularity belonged to the platform, not to them. This realization triggered a series of events that would fracture the group permanently. The exact sequence of what happened reads less like a business merger and more like a slow-motion divorce.
The BuzzFeed Era and the Cracks in the Foundation
Before the breakup, the four men—Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Keith Habersberger—were the backbone of BuzzFeed’s multiplatform empire. They starred in videos where they attempted absurd challenges, explored gender stereotypes, and embraced physical comedy with genuine gusto.
But the work environment behind the scenes was a different beast entirely. Sources inside BuzzFeed have long described a toxic culture of overwork and burnout. The company pushed creators to churn out viral content at an unsustainable pace. The Try Guys felt the squeeze long before the public did. The tipping point came when management began inserting themselves into the creative process in deeply personal ways.
Ned Fulmer’s personal life became a focal point for internal scrutiny. A relationship outside the group crossed lines that the company deemed problematic. This scandal gave BuzzFeed the leverage it wanted. The company moved to strip the creators of ownership and control. That single act of corporate overreach turned a private drama into a public spectacle. What happened next shocked the online entertainment world.
The Walkout: How the Split Actually Unfolded
The departure was not a single event. It was a cascade of severances. Eugene Yang, Zach Kornfeld, and Keith Habersberger moved first. They formally left BuzzFeed and established 2nd Try LLC as an independent production company. This move happened in late 2018, but the legal and emotional fallout stretched for years.
Ned Fulmer stayed longer than his counterparts. He remained affiliated with BuzzFeed while his partners launched their own venture. This asymmetry created an immediate fault line. The remaining three members had to navigate their friendship while business contracts tied Fulmer to their former employer.
The new company was not just a branding exercise. It was a survival mechanism. By forming 2nd Try LLC, the three creators seized control of their intellectual property. They took the Try Guys brand with them, a masterstroke that left BuzzFeed with nothing but the name and the channel’s history. The legal battle over who actually owned the content played out in private, away from the comment sections.
Ned Fulmer eventually departed as well. His exit was quieter but equally definitive. He cited a desire to pursue new projects separate from the group. The once-unified quartet transformed into four distinct solo careers. The Try Guys name lives on, but the unified entity is gone.
Life After the Split: Where Are They Now?
The aftermath of what happened is a study in divergent paths. Eugene Lee Yang has become the most visible face of the group post-split. He continues to produce bold, socially conscious content on his personal YouTube channel. His work often tackles themes of identity, representation, and corporate accountability. He has spoken openly about the importance of creator ownership.
Zach Kornfeld pivoted heavily toward long-form, documentary-style content. His videos explore mental health, personal growth, and the absurdities of modern life. He built a loyal audience that follows him for his introspective and often vulnerable storytelling. Keith Habersberger adopted a lighter, more chaotic comedic style. He focuses on cooking, stunt-based challenges, and unscripted moments that feel authentic and unpolished.
Ned Fulmer forged a path in fitness and wellness content. He launched the podcast "Dudesons" and pursued venture opportunities outside the YouTube ecosystem. The former group chat is now four separate channels. Fans have to choose which personality resonates with them the most. The collective magic of the foursome fizzled out, replaced by four distinct individual brands.
The Business of Being a YouTuber: Lessons from the Breakup
The Try Guys saga exposes a raw nerve in the creator economy. Many early YouTube stars signed away their rights to multi-channel networks and media companies. The promise was exposure and infrastructure. The reality was often exploitation and a lack of creative control. The Try Guys’ decision to form 2nd Try LLC stands as a cautionary tale and a blueprint for others.
The group’s separation proves that brand ownership matters more than follower counts. If the creators had not acted independently, they would still be producing content for a corporate machine that discarded their personal stories when they became inconvenient. The split forced each man to confront his individual value outside the group dynamic.
The internet loves a drama, but the real story here is structural. It is about workers reclaiming the means of production. The Try Guys walkaway from BuzzFeed mirrors a broader shift in digital media. Independent creators are realizing that platforms are rented land, not owned homes. The move to 2nd Try LLC was not just a business decision. It was an assertion of autonomy.
Why the Drama Still Matters
What happened to the Try Guys resonates because it mirrors the experiences of countless freelance and content creators. The feeling of being used up and discarded is universal in the gig economy. Fans watched four friends navigate a breakup that was simultaneously personal and corporate. The grief was real, even if the participants are public figures.
The group’s history is now a complicated archive. Old videos remain on BuzzFeed’s channels, a ghost town of content created under a former agreement. The new videos under the 2nd Try LLC banner represent a fresh start, unburdened by the constraints of the old guard. The split was messy, public, and painful. But it also birthed a new model for creator sustainability. The breakup taught a generation of fans that even online friendships have limits and boundaries that must be respected.