Eugene Lee Yang Is Leaving the Try Guys
The Try Guys, a group of former Buzzfeed employees turned YouTubers, is going from three guys to two, they announced Wednesday, adding that they’ll launch a new subscription-based streaming service. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfeld announced that Eugene Lee Yang is stepping away from the Try Guys to focus on creative endeavors.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Kornfeld said while Yang’s departure is “bittersweet,” he and Habersberger are excited for what’s to come from him in the future. “Eugene leaving is something that is sort of necessary for us to keep moving forward,” Habersberger said. “Things change. The Try Guys’ original cast already came to an end once, But now it’s sort of getting a better finite ending.”
The Try Guys started out on Buzzfeed’s YouTube channel, gaining viewers who tuned in to see them try everything from skydiving to dressing in drag to UFC fighting. In 2018, the group left Buzzfeed to start their own production company called 2ndTry, where they operated as a four-person group that included Ned Fulmer. In 2022, the group went viral when it was revealed that noted “Wife Guy” Fulmer cheated on his wife with an employee. Fulmer left the group and the remaining Try Guys put out a response on YouTube. The controversy sparked a two-week media frenzy and even a Saturday Night Live sketch.
“It’s not a great feeling to go viral for someone else’s misdoings. While the media circus surprised us, I know we remain incredibly proud of how we navigated an unfortunate situation,” Kornfeld told Rolling Stone. “We certainly as individuals, and as a team here paid the price for something we didn’t bring upon ourselves. That said I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Read More: Everything to Know About the Try Guys Cheating Drama
Yang will be featured in the Try Guys’ content this season, but it will be his last, per Rolling Stone, with Habersberger and Kornfeld serving as hosts. On Wednesday, Yang said in a post on X that he will release a video on Thursday “that will answer all of your questions about my future involvement.”
In a YouTube video uploaded to the Try Guys’ channel earlier today, Habersberger and Kornfeld explained the changes, including details on the 2nd Try streaming service. The subscription service will be available worldwide and is going to have new content from the two remaining hosts as well as the cast that works at 2nd Try. But the “proper sendoff” for Yang will be uploaded tomorrow.
They noted that all of the original content from the Try Guys will be available on their channel. This hasn’t always been the case: another group of former Buzzfeed employees, Watcher Entertainment, recently faced backlash from fans when they announced a streaming service that would put all of their content—new and old—behind a paywall (they later backtracked).
“Look, we’ve done our drama once. I don’t want to do it again,” Kornfeld said. “It was very clear to us from the beginning that for this to work, you cannot take away from your audience. You have to give more. Our job now is to prove to people that we’re making stuff that is worth their time.”