Eugene Lee Yang offered in extraordinary detail why he's leaving The Try Guys, and chief among his reasons include his mental health and an incredibly busy schedule that includes taking a stab at filmmaking and becoming an author.
In a near 20-minute video uploaded Thursday on The Try Guys' YouTube channel, Eugene grew emotional as he began explaining the reason behind his exit from the popular YouTube group after a decade. He took a deep breath before revealing that he'd "wanted to have this heart-to-heart for quite a while now."
He then announced his official departure from The Try Guys.
"After 10 profoundly impactful years, my time here on YouTube has come to an end. There's no version of this announcement in which I can properly express how emotional this moment is for me, how hard it is to close such a meaningful chapter of my life," he said. "But in the spirit of so much of my digital work, I'm gonna give it one last try."
He offered a "heartfelt thanks" to the remaining co-hosts, Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfeld, whom he referred to as his "bespectacled baby brothers, my tall and tiny nerds."
Eugene then offered over-the-top praise (calling Keith "undeniably the hottest Try Guy" and Keith "an absolute rock star") to his former partners, which turned out to be a yet another bit, as the camera turned to Keith and Eugene holding cue cards for Eugene to read. Eugene then invited them over in front of the camera to "present a few points" about his departure.
"That being said, the three of us have always held a mutual, empathetic understanding about when the right time was for me to take a bow," Eugene said.
Zach added, "Some of you may have seen this coming for a while, as Eugene's schedule has gotten busier over the past few years. We thank you for your patience regarding a formal clarification. We wish we could have told you sooner, but certain circumstances outside of our control kind of challenged the three of us to come together in solidarity and I'm very glad that we did."
Eugene prefaced that his departure is "the furthest thing from drama" and added, "We have been through the worst version of that together," seemingly in reference to Ned Fulmer's cheating scandal in 2022.
Eugene said his passion has been writing and directing in the film and literary spaces. His next project will be making his directorial debut after he developed a script that's "currently in the active stage" of being packaged. He's also working on a novel, "the first in an epic queer fantasy duology with the brilliant folks over at Macmillan Feiwel & Friends." The novel, Eugene said, will be available in 2025.
He also said he's working on his first graphic novel with Vault comics, "a twisted horror fantasy musical titled 'Buckaroo.'"
Besides his busy schedule, Eugene cited his mental health for leaving the platform.
"I've come to terms with the fact that this simply isn't the right space for me. The internet can be a fun, rewarding, fantastic place where many creatives shine, including my colleagues who are so, so talented at what they do," he shared. "In truth, more often than not, I've experienced the opposite effect, and leaving will be the decision for preserving my mental health."
Keith and Zach previously told Rolling Stone that Eugene, 38, will be leaving The Try Guys after the upcoming season to pursue different creative avenues.
The Try Guys were formed by former BuzzFeed employees Ned, Eugene, Keith, and Zach in 2014. Their very first video consisted of them trying on women's underwear, and since then, their YouTube channel has amassed over 8 million subscribers and 2.6 billion views.
In 2022, however, Ned, a co-creator and executive producer, found himself at the center of a scandal after he admitted to cheating on his wife, Ariel, and having a consensual affair in the workplace. The couple have two sons, Wesley (born in 2018) and Finley (born in 2020).
At the time, Ned released a statement on his Instagram taking accountability for his actions, saying, "Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship. I'm sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused to the guys and the fans but most of all to Ariel. The only thing that matters right now is my marriage and my children, and that's where I am going to focus my attention."
As for the remaining Try Guys, Zach and Keith will now focus on expanding their own branded subscription streaming service, 2nd Try.
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