HQ Trivia's ex-host says the company shut down because of a 'lethal cocktail of incompetence, arrogance, short-sightedness & sociopathic delusion'

scott rogowsky

The beloved ex-host of HQ Trivia tweeted Saturday that the company was shut down due to "incompetence, arrogance, short-sightedness & sociopathic delusion."
He also accused the company of leaving its staff "in the lurch after being gaslit and lied to."
HQ did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The company's CEO, Rus Yusupov, announced in a company-wide email on Friday that the live gameshow app would shut down, adding that "lead investors are no longer willing to fund the company."
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The beloved ex-host of the live gameshow app HQ Trivia railed against the company's leadership on Twitter, one day after CEO Rus Yusupov announced the company would shut down.

"HQ didn't die of natural causes. It was poisoned with a lethal cocktail of incompetence, arrogance, short-sightedness & sociopathic delusion," Rogowsky tweeted Saturday. "Saddened to see it finally succumb; sadder still for the good & talented staff abruptly left in the lurch after being gaslit and lied to."

HQ did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Rogowsky, known to his fans as "Quiz Daddy," left HQ last April to join the sports streaming service DAZN.

HQ Trivia, which attained viral popularity in 2017, attracted millions of users to play each day during live, 15-minute segments.

HQ Trivia

But, as Business Insider's Julie Bort previously reported, the company was soon plagued with missteps and infighting, and began hemorrhaging users by mid-2018.

The company's co-founder Colin Kroll also died in December 2018, and the company struggled to regain its footing afterwards.

On Friday, Yusupov sent a company-wide email telling employees that "lead investors are no longer willing to fund the company," and that HQ would shut down. CNN was first to report the news.

Though Rogowsky didn't elaborate on his complaints with HQ officials, on Saturday he quote-tweeted Yusupov's 2016 advice — "Don't sell your company!" — and quipped "Don't let him run your company!"