Chewbacca Mum Is Getting Paid; Has Received $561,000 In Gifts So Far

Cast your mind back, oh, three weeks, and you may recall the surprise stardom of one “Chewbacca Mum”; a woman utterly delighted by a talking Chewbacca mask, hailed as our new Viral Video Queen.

It turns out internet fame pays pretty well, with Time reporting that Candace Payne has received $US420,000 in gifts since her Facebook Live clip was first published. (That's a touch over $AUD561,000.)

Those gifts include a bunch of Star Wars swag from Kohl’s (where she purchased the mask in question), some trips to New York, California and Disney World, and, somewhat inexplicably but still generously, full college tuition scholarships for Payne, her husband, and their two children from Southeastern University in Florida.

Get paid, Candace.

(She also met J.J. Abrams and James Corden, if that counts for anything.)

TMZ adds that Payne is now charging $US20 for autographs, as per her recent appearance at Dallas’ Fan Expo over the weekend. (She was reportedly seated next to Joffrey himself, Jack Gleeson, who I’m sure is psyched about the direction of his career.)

Payne, apparently active in her church, is planning on donating a portion of that money to Christian ministry initiative Oaks Fellowship “All In”.

Anyway, here’s the video that started all this. It’s still pretty delightful.

Photo: Facebook.