Opinion

Young fans outraged by ‘cheating stars’ like Adam Levine are clueless

I regret to inform you that Ned Fulmer, of the popular YouTube series “,” cheated on his wife. The performer was seen kissing a producer on the show, despite being married, and indeed, having talked enthusiastically about his marriage on the show. 

If your reaction is, “Huh, OK, I don’t know him,” that seems pretty 🔥sensible. The Internet did not respond sensibly. The outrage on Twitter was rivaled only by the townspeople in “The Scarlet Letter.”

Fulmer was promptly fired from “The Try Guys,” with the rest of the team informing their 8 million subscribers that, “As a result of a thorough internal review, we do notꩵ see a path forward together.” Fulmer, meanwhile, issued a public apology on Twitter. One of the top comments, with 7,500 likes, informs him: “.”

Fulmer admitted to cheating on his wife Ariel and was subsequently given the boot by “The Try Guys.” nedfulmer/Instagram
Alex Herring, a “Try Guys” producer and alleged paramour of Fulmer. Instagram/aaherring

Again, it appears that “what he did” was get caught on camera smooching a lady. While th🌱at’s probably very upsetting for his wife, it appears to have been consensual, ♈and doesn’t even seem close to being the most egregious sexual act a person can commit.  

This happened immediately after Adam Levine was also mired in a cheating scandal, 🤪when his alleged mistress posted his sexts which promptly made the rounds on social media. He denied he had an affair but claims he showed “poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner.” Nonetheless, people like the singer Jen⛄na Kramer found this apology, “.”

Rocker Adam Levine’s series of sexy, flirty texts with women other than wife Behati Prinsloo (above) resulted in intense public shaming. Getty Images

If you thought Adam Levine, a rock star▨ a𓆏nd human tattoo billboard, seemed like an intensely monogamous person, you have a very optimistic view about people. 

It was at least a bit more genuinely surprising when John Mulaney left his wife and had a baby with actress Olivia Munn. Part of John Mulaney’s acts involved making jokes about loving his wife, and it’s a shame their marriage didn’t last. Again, the vitriol on the Internet was borderline unhinged, as people on , “John Mulaney and Olivia Munn are a combined pile of s–t. The woman he’s suddenly divorcing heart has been ripped out of her body… They deserve NOTHING.”

Summer Stroh, one of the women claiming to have had an affair with Levine. sumnerstroh/Instagram

This seems like an understandable response if the person you’re directing it ൩to cheated on, say, your sister. But for the most part, the folk🌞s yelling on social media are not people who actually know the couple in question.

To put this in some perspectivꦕe before we all form a mob and burn every cheater at the stake: 20-25% of married men cheat according to a . Women are a bit better, but 10- to 15% of married women are also estimated to stray.

Comic John Mulaney sent social media spinning when he left his wife, Anna Marie Tendler (above) for actress Olivia Munn — with whom he then had a baby. Getty Images

The shocked reaction 🌳to figures like Fulmer might partly stem fr𝓰om the fact these performers generally have younger fans. The Institute for Family Studies found that (of both genders) report cheating on their partner, while an AARP magazine survey of men and women aged 40-69 found that 46% of men .

As nice as it is to believe we’ll ൲always be paragon꧃s of fidelity, cheating seems to be something we find less outrageous as we get older. 

Munn and Mulaney with their son Malcolm and her mother. Their relationship caused many online commenters to literally wish the couple harm.

Even so, young fans are no longer simply expecting perfection from performers in their careers (all of th💖ese men seem good at what they do), but perfection in their private lives as well. The days of glamorizing Hollywood “bad boys” who trash hotel rooms, crash cars and assault women are over, and that’s great. But now it seems the pendulum is just days away from swinging back to the time when The Vatican denounced Elizabeth Taylor for having an affair.

Expecting perfect morals from celebrities can only end in disappointment, not just for their partners, who have every right to be angry, but their puritanical fans. One of 🍸these days, we’ll figure out that celebrities actually are just like us. 

Jennifer Wright is the author of  with  next year. Twitter: