Ned Fulmer, a former member of the popular Try Guys YouTube channel, is facing fresh allegations that he may be artificially inflating his video view counts. Content creator AugustTheDuck has raised significant questions about suspicious metrics on Fulmer’s channel. In a recent YouTube video, he suggested that Fulmer’s numbers simply don’t add up.
Fulmer’s return to YouTube following his 2022 departure from the Try Guys has been marked by controversy. After being removed from the group when news broke about his affair with a producer, Fulmer launched a solo channel and podcast. However, his comeback has been met with widespread criticism, particularly regarding a podcast episode where he and his wife discussed the infidelity, which many viewers found exploitative.
The evidence supporting the view manipulation claims is compelling. Fulmer’s recent video “Ranking Every Taco in Los Angeles” accumulated over 400,000 views but received only 242 likes and 49 comments.
By comparison, similar videos from other creators with comparable view counts typically generate between 12,000 to 19,000 likes and thousands of comments. Even a Try Guys video on an identical topic with 1.1 million views had 35,000 likes, a ratio that dramatically outpaces Fulmer’s engagement.
This pattern appears across Fulmer’s entire channel. His “Chefs Roast My 4 Foot Tall” video shows 440,000 views with just 131 likes and 98 comments. Another upload reached 1 million views while garnering only 876 likes and 410 comments. These engagement rates hover near zero percent, far below what successful YouTube videos typically achieve.
Perhaps most telling are the view growth patterns revealed through analytics. According to data from SocialBlade, Fulmer’s videos demonstrate unusual behavior. They often languish with minimal views for weeks, then suddenly experience massive jumps of 50,000 to 100,000 views in single days, followed by complete stagnation. One video gained 117,000 views in 24 hours while receiving only 81 likes and five comments. Such performance would never trigger YouTube’s algorithm to boost a video organically.
The platform’s recommendation system rewards consistent engagement. When viewers watch, like, and comment, YouTube continues pushing content. Fulmer’s videos show the opposite: they gain massive view counts without corresponding interaction, then plateau immediately. Some even lost views during dormant periods before inexplicably surging again the next day.
AugustTheDuck compared these patterns to legitimate viral growth, showing how real algorithm success builds gradually with increasing engagement before tapering off naturally. Fulmer’s metrics instead display sharp, stair-stepping jumps with suspicious consistency, always occurring in similarly sized increments with days of inactivity between spikes.
Additional red flags include a prolific commenter who has left over 100 nearly identical messages defending Fulmer, behavior consistent with bot accounts. Comment sections are often filled more with criticism than genuine support, yet view counts continue climbing inexplicably.
While direct proof of purchased views remains unavailable, the circumstantial evidence paints a troubling picture. Every indicator suggests artificial inflation rather than organic growth. For someone already facing public scrutiny over past actions, these allegations represent another chapter in what some are calling a “generational run” of self-inflicted controversy.
Fulmer has not addressed these specific allegations.
