David Chang simply turned the primary celeb to win the highest prize in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
And the chef determined to give it all to a very good trigger – he’s donating all the $1 million prize to restaurant workers who’ve been impacted by the pandemic.
In the nail-biting remaining moments of the episode Sunday, host Jimmy Kimmel watched because the Momofuku founder struggled over the past query.
“No (celebrity) has ever gone for it,” Kimmel stated. “They’ve all walked away.”
For his remaining query, Chang was requested to title the primary US president to have electrical energy within the White House.
“This is the most painful, nervous – this is terrifying,” Chang will be heard saying in a clip from the episode.
After phoning a buddy – ESPN journalist Mina Kimes – Chang guessed President Benjamin Harrison, regardless of admittedly not even understanding whether or not Harrison was a president.
Chang jumped from his chair when he heard the sound of screams, as author and director Alan Yang introduced a big test on stage. Chang had won.
“Always wanted to hold a giant check on television,” Yang wrote on Twitter, with a photograph of him, Chang, Kimmel and the test. “Thanks @MillionaireTV! Asian trivia dream team ftw.”
Chang had at all times supposed on donating the cash to the Southern Smoke Foundation, a disaster aid group for folks within the meals and beverage business. If Chang had determined not to reply the query, he would have walked away with roughly $500,000. Instead, he determined to threat it all for the sake of doubling that donation.
“Having a million dollars right now in this moment, is a game changer for many, many families,” Chang says within the video clip of the episode. “And yes, half a million is as well – and I want to say ‘No, just take the money!’ – but I’m not.”
While eating places and bars have been labeled by states as important companies that could operate on takeout and delivery, many nonetheless had to shut down throughout stay-at-home orders. Some companies discovered it laborious, or economically unfeasible to undertake that mannequin, or had different public well being issues.
“Since the government won’t help out restaurant workers…we have to do what we can to help out,” Chang tweeted on Sunday in a thread about profitable on the present.
He added: “Thank you @alanyang and @minakimes for being a lot smarter then me!!! Always good to have pals that did properly at school!!
The Southern Smoke Foundation, began in 2015 by chef Chris Shepherd, has distributed $4,097,425 to 2,071 folks nationwide, according to its website. “To date, Southern Smoke has distributed more than $5.7 million, both directly to people in need via the Emergency Relief Fund and to organizations that represent the needs of people in our industry,” the group says on its web site.
The organization tweeted the information of Chang’s win, exclaiming “WE WON A MILLION DOLLARS!”
“I’m so honored that Dave chose Southern Smoke as his charity,” Shepherd informed NCS. “Now, more than ever, with indoor dining shut down in many parts of the country and temperatures dropping to prohibit outdoor dining, food and beverage industry employees are desperate.”
Southern Smoke estimates that Chang’s donation will assist 500 meals and beverage workers.