‘The Office’ Star Says He Will Return Kickstarter Money

Leslie David Baker, perhaps better known as Stanley from the American version of The Office, has had to put his spinoff on hiatus. This proposed project was initially announced back in 2020, when the campaign for an Uncle Stan spun off from The Office went viral. Baker put up a Kickstarter which received a total of $336,450. Fortunately, that was enough to surpass the original goal of $300,000.

But now three years later, Uncle Stan never materialized, leaving fans and donors wondering what happened to the project, and to their money. This week, Baker posted a statement regarding Uncle Stan social media, and the project’s Kickstarter page.

“Initial delays were caused because of the Covid lockdowns and pushed us back further than expected,” he explained. “As things started returning to normal and we commenced reward fulfillment and preproduction, the WGA strike was announced causing us to put things on hold again. As you are all aware, SAG is now on strike and we will continue to be on hold indefinitely until an agreement is reached. We stand in solidarity with those in the entertainment industry and will do our part in supporting WGA and SAG during these times.”

Baker claims that the project will be made but for now, those who backed the show will get their money returned.

“In light of the current economic situation,” Baker said, “we felt that this was the best course of action. You will receive a message notifying you of your refund as soon as it is issued and you can expect to receive it over the following weeks. We will also be contacting Kickstarter to facilitate expediting this matter. We have remained in constant communication with our backers via direct messaging and rewards have continued to be fulfilled during this time.”

Baker also noted that “although the total funded amount shown on our Kickstarter campaign page was stated as $336,450.53, that was not the actual final amount we received,” and claimed that the final amount they were given from Kickstarter was “exactly $110,629.81. The funds were never used for any purposes other than reward fulfillment and backer refunds, and have otherwise remained accounted for and untouched in the account.”

It's unlikely we'll have more news about the spinoff any time soon, but according to Baker, it’s still going to happen eventually.