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Three months after marking their 10-year wedding anniversary, American interior designer and content creator Ariel Fulmer was sent a photo of her husband by one of his fans. It blindsided her.
“It was like my brain couldn’t compute,” she told her estranged husband Ned Fulmer, with whom she shares two children, overnight, in her first public remarks since the public implosion of her marriage three years ago.
Ned Fulmer and Ariel Fulmer in May 2022. Four months later, his extramarital affair with his employee would spark the public implosion of his marriage.Credit: Instagram/@NedFulmer
“For some reason, I couldn’t see what was actually there,” Ariel continued. “I thought it was your sister. And I remember sending it to you and being like, ‘What’s your sister doing in New York?’”
The woman cosying up to Ned in the photo was not his sister. It was a then-31-year-old employee of The Try Guys, the entertainment group and media production company that Ned, then aged 35, had founded in 2014 with three former BuzzFeed colleagues.
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In September 2022, Ned was removed from the company following the exposure of his extramarital affair with his subordinate, and had spent the past three years largely in exile.
That was until Wednesday, when TMZ exclusively revealed Ned and Ariel are separated, and People published an interview in which Ned divulged his public cheating scandal had made him “a lot more interested in other people’s challenging times.”
“When someone does something that they’re really ashamed about or that is deeply traumatising, life goes on. So what happens next?” Ned told the magazine.
It was his first interview since his career was torpedoed by his infidelity, and it was granted to announce the launch of his new venture. The first episode of Rock Bottom – a podcast in which Ned interviews people about overcoming their lowest moments, a concept similar to the podcast announced by Australia’s Clare Stephens this week – was officially broadcast hours later.
Ned’s personal brand and relationship with his fans was forged, for almost a decade, off the back of his adoration for Ariel, so it was relatively unsurprising his comeback featured his estranged wife as his first guest. But the fact Ariel, who had never spoken publicly about the scandal, was willing to offer up her humiliation for the benefit of Ned – and his bank account – has divided the former couple’s fans.
“Ariel should have done this interview on like Call Her Daddy or The Try Wives or something… Ned being there while she’s being so vulnerable and speaking so candidly is INFURIATING me,” wrote viewer, who had watched the hour-long conversation on the podcast’s official YouTube account, which had formerly belonged to Baby Steps, the parenting podcast with a sizeable following hosted by Ned and Ariel in 2020.
“Proof that his wife was and still is the most interesting about him. Ariel was so lovely to listen to in this episode,” another viewer wrote, a sentiment echoed in another comment that said, “Do not mistake the views from this video as a welcome back. My best to Ariel in the future.”
“It’s pretty well known that I was presenting myself as a wife guy who talked about his adorable relationship,” Ned admitted to People ahead of the episode’s premiere, saying the reality of his relationship with Ariel was different to the character he was playing for content, and he understands why his infidelity was an ironic, painful and devastating “rug pull” for fans.
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“It was something fans seemed to resonate with and I leaned into consciously,” Ned continued. “It certainly was a part of my life.”
Ariel said she has not forgiven Ned for lying to her and cheating on her. She also spoke about the guilt and shame she felt when Ned’s affair was exposed, and the current status of their relationship.
“We’ve been together for a long time, and you are the father of my two beautiful children, and we know each other really well,” she said in the episode.
“We’ve worked through a lot of stuff, and the fact that I can be around you and still have a good time and enjoy spending time with you and enjoy spending time with my kids – I think that’s a win.”
Although it was, at times, painfully awkward (“Some days I hate your guts. Some days I enjoy your company more than not,” Ariel told Ned), Ariel’s appearance on the podcast episode is a departure from the well-worn playbook of the woman scorned. Unless you’re Will Smith.
But the strategy of falling and failing and then talking (with a side of earnings for that talking) about your fall and failure is a favourite among high-profilers.
In his 2023 Netflix stand-up special, comedian John Mulaney mined his divorce from Anna Marie Tendler, relapse after more than a decade of sobriety, intervention and rehabilitation, and the birth of his first child with now-wife Olivia Munn all the way to the top 10 of Nielsen’s original series chart.
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One week after its debut, Charlie Sheen’s Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen is No.4 on the streamer’s global and Australian top 10 movies charts. Across two episodes, Two and a Half Men star opened up about his drug abuse scandals and feuds, and the impact it had on his loved ones, for an undisclosed sum. He did the same in his tell-all memoir, The Book of Sheen, in a book deal that he previously said he’d want $US10 million ($15 million) for.
Sheen’s daughter, Sami Sheen, whom he shares with ex-wife Denise Richards, gave her father’s documentary a “10/10” review on TikTok, writing alongside a video of her tearful face: “I didn’t know I was the reason he got sober.”
For help with drug and alcohol addiction, contact the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
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