HQ Trivia CEO apologizes for 'being a jerk' to a journalist and threatening to fire his star employee

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November 22, 2017 9:20 PM

Rus Yusupov, the guy behind HQ Trivia and Vine, was mad that his game show's host talked to the Daily Beast about the salad chain Sweetgreen.

The co-founder of Vine and current CEO of HQ Trivia went off at a Daily Beast reporter during a phone call for writing an unauthorized profile about the app's game show host, Scott Rogowsky.
HQ Trivia is a hot startup that offers a live trivia game show, where players compete for real money.
The CEO, Rus Yusupov, threatened to fire Rogowsky if the Daily Beast ran its profile, which revealed that Rogowsky's favorite salad chain is Sweetgreen.
The story ran and included details of Yusupov's reaction. The CEO ultimately apologized on Twitter.

The CEO of the mega-popular app HQ Trivia learned a lesson about public relations — and Sweetgreen salads — on Tuesday after going off on a Daily Beast reporter during a phone call.

Rus Yusupov, cofounder of HQ Trivia and the now defunct video streaming app Vine, recently threatened to fire his star employee and game show host,

The Daily Beast reported that Yusupov shouted at Lorenz on the phone, saying, “He cannot say that! We do not have a brand deal with Sweetgreen! Under no circumstances can he say that.”

So what happened to cause such a reaction? The heart of the issue appears to be Yusupov's fundamental misunderstanding about how journalism works, and what reporters are and aren't authorized to do when reporting on a subject.

Q: Who's a cliche, stressed out startup founder? A: me," Yusupov tweeted at "Sorry for being a jerk. Lunch some time?"

Looking for a good PR agent... @ Rus

Q: Who's a cliche, stressed... @ Rus

(Disclosure: Lorenz has previously worked for Business Insider.)

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