Scott Rogowsky Tells All About HQ Trivia’s Rise and Fall

In the streaming age, every piece of cultural ephemera, from Barney to LuLaRoe, will inevitably be reappraised in a documentary or podcast. The once-ubiquitous game app HQ Trivia has gotten both over the past few years, first with a podcast series on The Ringer network in 2020 and, now, in a new documentary film from CNN and HBOMax.

The latter, titled Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia, has already caused a stir online ahead of its premiere on CNN this Sunday night. In February, one of the original hosts of the internet game show, Sarah Pribis, posted a TikTok criticizing her exclusion from the project and has since made a “Tik-Tokumentary” recounting her experience at the “toxic” company. In a recent article for Rolling Stone, Glitch’s director, Salima Koroma, said that Pribis was brought in for a “pre-interview” but felt like she “had what [she] needed” regarding sources.

Present throughout Glitch, though, is comedian Scott Rogowsky, who became the face of HQ Trivia when he took over as the game’s primary host in 2017. Throughout the film, he spills on the mayhem that occurred behind the scenes at HQ during the app’s brief glory years, including his contentious relationship with one of the founders, Russ Yusupov.

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Rogowsky’s participation brings to mind yet another complaint surrounding CNN’s take on the dissolution of the app. The Ringer’s Alyssa Bereznak, host of the eight-part podcast series Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia, called out the similarities between the documentary and her own reporting—including the doc’s name–on Twitter last month despite never being interviewed.

In the last episode of Boom/Bust, she provides an interesting anecdote about Rogowsky, who’s featured in the podcast, and his initial reluctance to speak to her. She also claims that she heard from multiple people that he had encouraged other HQ staffers involved to demand pay and even reached out to The Ringer’s founder Bill Simmons about what she considered a “coup” of the podcast.

“I don’t think it’s insane to inquire about compensation for a project,” Rogowsky told The Daily Beast. “Bill Simmons had a big deal with Spotify. You want hours of my time. You want hours of time from all the people involved. They all just got laid off.”

Rogowksy wasn’t paid to participate in Glitch either, according to a representative for CNN. However, he credits his immediate willingness to speak in the doc as opposed to the podcast with what he considers “higher standards” in journalism. He specifically refers to portions of the podcast where Bereznak would casually converse with her editor as “some kind of gossip fest.”

“It just sounds like they’re having a gabfest,” Rogowsky said about Boom/Bust. “It sort of went off the rails.”

Bereznak declined to comment for this story.

Still, despite Rogowsky’s presence in the CNN doc, he wasn’t chomping at the bit to rehash his experiences in yet another project about HQ.

“My first thought was, ‘I think the story has been told,’” the 38-year-old said. “I don't know what more there is to say. But once they made it clear that they're gonna be doing this with or without me, I thought, ‘OK. Let me at least have my narrative in there.’ And hopefully, this will be once and for all, and we can put this to bed.”

For the most part, the 90-minute film is your beat-for-beat deep-dive into a failed capitalist venture run by a pair of robotic Silicon Valley bros. While it features some alarming revelations, the documentary is not your meme-ably outrageous scammer story à la Netflix’s Tiger King or Fyre Festival documentary. Rather, it’s a more grounded tale about male egos jockeying for power while ill equipped to handle the demand of their product.

Glitch also provides a fascinating look at the role of game shows as one the few surviving bits of monoculture. HQ Trivia, in particular, was one of the rare game shows embraced by mostly young people, primarily because it took place on users’ smartphones and offered shared cash prizes. The youth’s obsession with the app also had plenty to do with Rogowsky's magnetism as a host.

When Rogowsky auditioned for HQ, he was working as a stand-up and internet comedian in New York, most famously known for his viral “Fake Book” Covers series on YouTube. The opportunity at HQ came via his old roommate and friend Russell Wyner, who designed visuals for the app. Rogowsky soon proved to be the right fit, becoming the main host in August 2017. In the span of a few months, the 38-year-old grew into a beloved cult figure known for his funny A.K.A.s—not unlike former comic duo Desus and Mero’s—his handsome looks and gaudy suits. By 2018, he was widely recognized as the “Quiz Daddy.”

Behind the scenes though, Rogowsky was treated less like a star and more like a disposable freelancer, working off six-week contracts without benefits while the show was garnering a million-plus contestants. By the time Yuspov and his now-deceased co-founder Colin Kroll wanted to lock him in with a multi-year deal, Rogowsky was still being lowballed.

“Russ’ first offer to me was a prorated version of the exact same amount that I was making,” the comedian said. “I was like, ‘Seriously, man? There’s no pay raise after all of this?’”

Eventually, Rogowsky says that Yusupov recruited Scooter Braun, who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, to help determine an amount that was fair. This wasn’t the end of Rogowsky’s issues with Yusupov though. In the film, Rogowsky claims that the Vine founder grew increasingly hostile towards him, presumably out of jealousy that he was no longer the face of the app.

Rogowsky said that his former boss would remind him that his position was only temporary until they found a legitimate celebrity to host the show. He also interfered with his press opportunities, including a profile in The Daily Beast that devolved into chaos once Yusupov threatened to fire Rogowsky for giving the interview. This public debacle only brought more publicity to the app.

Some of the talking heads in Glitch speculate that the whole fiasco—which ended in Yusupov tersely apologizing on social media—was some sort of PR stunt. Rogowsky firmly disagrees.

“Everyone loves to throw that card out there,” the comedian said. “This guy is just a lunatic. I don’t know what else to say. It’s arrogance. It’s incompetence. It’s an inability to manage employees, work with talent, work with people, just a complete lack of awareness.”

Despite their competitive relationship, Yusupov strangely offered Rogowsky the role of CEO in a dire moment when the app was rapidly losing users. He wanted Rogowsky to take over as a temporary figurehead in a bid to regain the public’s attention, sort of like when Nick Cannon was the chairman of TeenNick. The founder also wanted to add a Truman Show-like twist, broadcasting Rogowsky's time as a CEO live.

“I’ll always wonder about that one,” Rogowsky said. “I would have certainly been pushing for releasing more shows and building up the network of shows. I did have a lot of ideas. It’s a shame to not see that vision executed.”

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At the peak of HQ’s popularity, it drew celebrities like Kevin Hart, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Mayer, Awkwafina and even screen legend Robert De Niro, who all visited the headquarters to guest-host alongside Rogowsky. President Joe Biden even told the comedian that he was more famous than him back when he was a former vice president. Even with all of that star attraction, Rogowsky says the interaction that really crystallized his fame involved thousands of Jewish teenagers at a BBYO conference in 2018.

“You couldn’t be more zeroed in on my type of audience,” said Rogosky, who’s Jewish. “They hired me to do a keynote speech. I went to the conference and did a 10-minute pep talk to this crowd. But there were thousands of these high schoolers there. I got mobbed every time I stepped out of the lobby and elevator for selfies. But doing the speech itself, I'll never forget the feeling of these kids screaming and the force of the sound waves coming out of their mouths.”

A meteoric rise (and swift fall) such as Rogowsky’s can leave someone craving a certain level of attention for the rest of their life. However, Rogowsky, who currently owns a vintage store in Santa Monica, isn’t wistful about his days as one of the most famous people on the internet. Looking back, the former host is “grateful” that HQ granted him the “perfect amount” of fame.

“I don’t think anyone really wants to have it for too long because it can be debilitating at times,” Rogowsky said. “It was intense and relatively short. There are certain people who still recognize me and want to talk about this stuff. I can obviously have a normal life and go to thrift stores and shop for vintage clothes like I do.”

Inspired by his love for antiques and vintage items, Rogowsky runs Quiz Daddy’s Closet where you can see him in-person working behind the counter. The former host says a large number of his customers are former HQ players treating his shop as some sort of landmark or special tourist experience. He’s also anticipating a “potential next chapter” hosting another show on Gamestar+ that’s still in development.

“They’re really taking advantage of the cutting edge technology,” Rogowsky said about the gaming startup. “Their whole thing is, ‘Look, Scott, you’re a pioneer in this live streaming mobile, interactive space. We want you to be the pioneer in the next version.’”

With more entertainment avenues than ever before for Rogowsky to tap into and a new documentary out, we could very well be headed towards a Quiz Daddy renaissance. If not, he seems pretty satisfied collecting and selling old T-shirts on Main Street.

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