Twitter Is So Unimpressed By SNL’s Take On The Try Guys Situation

First comes scandal. Then comes Saturday Night Live sketch. That’s why, after now-former Try Guys member Ned Fulmer became embroiled in controversy in September, it was only a matter of time before the situation became SNL fodder. And, sure enough, fans saw the expected sketch in the Oct. 8 episode. What was a surprise, though, based on tweets after it aired, was SNL’s very bad take on what went down.

The scandal blew up on Sept. 27, when Fulmer confirmed internet speculation that he’d cheated on wife Ariel Fulmer. He described his affair as “a consensual workplace relationship”; however, as the woman in question was his subordinate, the other Try Guys — Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang — did “a thorough internal review” and ultimately concluded that they did “not see a path forward” with Fulmer as part of the media production company. As Habersberger explained it in the Oct. 6 episode of their podcast, The TryPod, “It betrayed our trust. It was a workplace violation. It would mean to all the people in our office who knew what they knew, that we were not true to everything we say we are and our values.”

The Try Guys may have taken the situation seriously, but apparently SNL didn’t. The show’s sketch summed up the scandal as Fulmer having “committed the heinous act of having a consensual kiss — and not telling us, his friends!” Although it mentioned power dynamics, it quickly glossed over the issue.

On Twitter, many people were quick to explain why the “consensual workplace relationship” was not OK and call out SNL for downplaying it. “There were so many other ways they could have parodied this, but they went for making the victims the punchline while downplaying workplace harassment,” one person tweeted, in part.

Many other Twitter users argued that the sketch sent the wrong message about how similar situations should be handled. “Imagine making a full statement for your viewers and supporters, which by the way was handled extremely well, and SNL decides to shit on it,” a critic tweeted, in part.

A lot of people felt like SNL totally missed the mark and landed on the wrong punchline. “[H]ow was the ned fulmer shit the hot topic of the internet for a whole week and snl missed the most basic information about it[?]” one viewer asked.

The sketch’s takeaway really made some people question the workplace culture at SNL. Raising the issue, one person tweeted, “this skit says way more about snl’s workplace environment than it ever will about the try guys’.”

After the sketch aired, Habersberger tweeted a message that seemed like his own reaction to it — one that fans seemed to largely agree with. “Wow that was unexpected,” he wrote.