Antoni Porowski demonstrated another side of his multitalented personality on Wednesday when he took first place in developer Scopely’s charity “Scrabble Go” mobile game tournament.
The actor-chef beat “Queer Eye” co-star Jonathan Van Ness in the mobile version of the classic board game, and also got the highest score of all the A-list participants. On behalf of Porowski, Scopely will donate $12,350 to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a nonprofit which works to end discrimination in K-12 schools across the country. The funds were based on Porowski’s high score, plus an additional $5,000 from Scopely as a reward for out-scoring his competition.
“I’m not sitting next to Jonathan right now because we’re practicing social distancing, which everyone should be,” Porowski said in a video. “But also, I am destroying him at Scrabble Go’s battle of the boards right now, and he is not happy about it!”
The video was recorded before the tournament ended, and Porowski said, “If I win — which it’s looking like I’m going to — GLESN, my charity of choice, will receive a donation with my high score and a zero added to it, which is so great.”
Scopely’s tournament featured six celebrity head-to-head match ups, including “Office” stars Angela Kinsey and Rainn Wilson; U.S. women’s national soccer teamphenoms Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe; “black-ish” stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Yara Shahidi; “The Big Bang Theory” co-stars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch; and comedians Whitney Cummings and David Spade.
“I’ve been playing Scrabble with my friends and family since I was a kid, but with my schedule, game nights are rare at best,” Porowski said in an email. “That’s why I love Scrabble Go; I can play from anywhere in the world, and if my friends have to wait for my next devastating triple word score, that’s OK.”
The game publisher released Scrabble Go March 5 and said the title is one of its fastest-growing games to date, with over 1.9 million daily players worldwide since it launched. At the end of the roughly month-long tournament, Scopely donated roughly $55,000.
O’Brien added that Scopely will likely expand its charity gaming initiatives, and said “we’re also actively working on ways to support global causes benefitting COVID-19 relief across our entire portfolio.”