UPDATE: A representative for Girl Scouts of the USA said in a statement Tuesday that the organization did raise the $65,423 number Chris Rock showed on screen during the Oscars through a mix of cookie sales and donations.
“Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles was thrilled to participate in the 88th Oscars on Sunday evening,” the statement said. “Both Girl Scouts of the USA and the Academy have verified that, through sales of Girl Scout Cookies and donations made during the Oscars, the Girl Scouts raised $65,243 that will benefit girls, allowing them to improve their communities and continue developing into strong leaders.”
EARLIER: Chris Rock brought laughs and Thin Mints to the Oscars stage on Sunday night when asked the A-list audience to “reach into their millionaire pockets” and buy cookies from his daughters’ Girl Scout troop.
Celebrities like Mindy Kaling, Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers, and Kate Winslet were among those who enjoyed the sweets (Vice President Joe Biden even chipped in), and later in the show Rock announced they’d raised a grand total of $65,243. Except Oscars producers now say the sugar high wasn’t quite lucrative for Rock and his family.
“The number wasn’t the point. Other than beating [Linda Spradley Dunn, the Girl Scouts troop mother Rock called out during the bit], the gag came out of a very real situation,” David Hill told EW. “Chris’ daughters are in the Girl Scouts, while he is in L.A. working on the show. They never win for the highest fundraiser. I can solve both of these problems. Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? My kids were handing out Girl Scout cookies to all the celebrites around them.”
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“It was a big win for all of us,” added fellow telecast producer Reginald Hudlin. “If you’ve sat in that show for three-plus hours, you realize lunch was a long time ago. I think at the end of the night I saw a screen grab of Chris Rock saying good night and you see Morgan Freeman reaching in and grabbing a couple. You go, look at that — even God gets hungry. Even God loves Girl Scout cookies. The minute you hear it, it was one of those bits where you go instantly, ‘Oh, that’s going to work.’”
And while the night’s Girl Scouts haul might not have hit that five-figure number Rock showed on stage, it was still great PR for Samoas, Tagalongs, and the troops that sell them — a sentiment that was echoed by Dunn after the telecast. “You can’t buy that type of publicity for the Girl Scouts,” she said toAccess Hollywood. “That was a wonderful thing that he did.”
A Girl Scouts rep told TMZ the stunt netted roughly $2,500 in sales on Sunday night at the Dolby Theater.
Watch the Girl Scout cookies bit in the video above.
—Reporting by Nicole Sperling