Try Guys React to ‘SNL’ Parody: ‘Never Thought We Were Important Enough to be Ridiculed That Way’

In October, “Saturday Night Live” aired a sketch lampooning the recent drama surrounding video content quartet the Try Guys, best known for the wholesome image they cultivated working at BuzzFeed. Weeks before, one of the quartet’s members, Ned Fulmer, was removed from the company after his extramarital affair with an employee came to light, causing a stir on social media among fans of the group. The “SNL” sketch parodied the intense reaction that the news caused, with Brendan Gleeson playing a CNN reporter who devotes airtime to explaining the scandal.

In a recent Hollywood Reporter interview, the three remaining Try Guys — Keith Habersberger, Eugene Lee Yang, and Zach Kornfeld — responded to the sketch, calling the experience of being parodied on the comedy series surreal.

“Well, obviously being parodied on ‘SNL’ was something we didn’t really ever anticipate out of our careers,” Habersberger said. “We never thought we were important enough to be ridiculed that way.”

When the interviewer asked the three about their take on the sketch, which many perceived as mocking the group for being overdramatic about the severity of the situation, the three deflected by praising the costume department that transformed cast members Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and Andrew Dismukes into them.

“They have an amazing costume and wig department,” Yang said. “The replication, I commend that absolutely.”

“Very generous how much hair they gave me,” Kornfeld said. “As someone who’s been bald my whole life, I was thrilled.”

When the interviewer attempted to press further, a publicist for the group intervened and requested that the conversation move away from “SNL.” Elsewhere in the interview, however, Yang seemed to get a dig in at the comedy show while talking about how the public has reacted to their firing of Fulmer. Yang said he was proud that therespondeded to inappropriate workplace conduct quickly and communicated with their fanbase openly, and implied that institutions like “SNL” wouldn’t respond to the situation in the way they did.

“Sometimes, whether it’s how it evolves at ‘SNL’ or other places that are traditional, they might not be as upfront about those things,” Yang said. “I like to think that as much as people think that maybe we will mostly be remembered for the scandal, I think the public at large is mainly going to remember that our reaction was correct.”

Fulmer was ousted from the Try Guys company in September following rumors about his affair with a producer for the video series going viral on social media. In follow-up videos and on their podcast, the three remaining Try Guys said they would cut Fulmer out of future videos and detailed their reactions to the situation.

“We processed this almost like a trauma,” Kornfeld said on the Try Guys podcast “The TryPod.” “It really rocked our word, but also the ramifications were so clear. I don’t think that I really ever stopped to emotionally process it. Even still, I don’t know that I have.”

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