# Chewbacca Mom Chewbacca Mom is the internet nickname for Candace Payne, a Texas mother whose May 2016 Facebook Live video of herself laughing hysterically in a Kohl's Chewbacca mask hit the most-viewed Facebook Live record at the time it aired. The four-minute clip of her cracking up in her parked car became the defining viral moment of Facebook Live's early years and launched Payne into a full corporate press tour. ## Overview Chewbacca Mom is the online nickname for Candace Payne, a Texas mother whose Facebook Live video of herself laughing hysterically in a store-bought Chewbacca mask hit the most-viewed Facebook Live record at the time it aired in May 2016[4]. In the clip, Payne sits alone in her parked car, activates the mask's built-in growl speaker, and completely loses it between shouts of "I'm such a happy Chewbacca!"[1] The bit is pure unfiltered delight. A grown woman in a plastic Wookiee mask, cracking herself up over her own birthday gift, laughing so hard she can barely finish a sentence[1]. ## How It Spread The clip jumped platforms fast. YouTuber Jon Deak mirrored the video to his own channel on May 19, where the reupload alone pulled another 3.1 million views[1]. A Redditor cross-posted it to r/videos the following day, and the thread climbed past 11,500 upvotes with 3,000 comments inside five days. Celebrities and brands piled on immediately. On May 21, Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, tweeted his approval from his @TheWookieeRoars account, and the tag #HappyChewbacca started trending on Twitter that same afternoon[2]. Kohl's sent staff to the Payne family's home with $2,500 in gift cards and a haul of Star Wars merchandise from Disney and Hasbro, and the Facebook clip documenting that visit pulled another 32 million views in four days[3]. Payne hit the press circuit right after. She filmed a sketch on The Late Late Show with James Corden on May 23, appeared on Good Morning America that same morning, and visited Facebook's headquarters on May 24 to accept an award from the Facebook Live team. By June 3, TIME Money estimated her family had accumulated roughly $420,000 in corporate gifts, VIP travel perks, and full scholarship offers from Southeastern University[4]. ## How to Use Chewbacca Mom is more a viral video reference than a reusable template. People typically link the original Facebook clip or reupload it as shorthand for uncontrollable, contagious laughter, or as a nostalgic marker for peak Facebook Live[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Chewbacca Mom? Chewbacca Mom is Candace Payne, a Texas mother whose May 19, 2016 Facebook Live video of her laughing while wearing a store-bought electronic Chewbacca mask crossed roughly 145 million views in six days and set the most-viewed Facebook Live record at the time[4]. ### Where did Chewbacca Mom come from? Payne broadcast the four-minute clip from her parked car right after buying the mask at a Kohl's, and YouTuber Jon Deak's reupload the same day added another 3.1 million views on top of the Facebook numbers[1]. ### What does Chewbacca Mom mean? It refers to Payne's uncontrollable, contagious laughter behind the mask, and it is used online as shorthand for pure, unfiltered joy captured on video[1]. Peter Mayhew himself endorsed the clip on Twitter, cementing its Star Wars fandom cred[2]. ### How do you use Chewbacca Mom? It is not really a template. People commonly share the original Facebook or YouTube clip as a reaction to something wholesome, or reference "I'm such a happy Chewbacca" as a caption on their own giddy moments[1]. ### Is Chewbacca Mom still popular? The video peaked in the weeks after May 19, 2016, and Payne received an estimated $420,000 in gifts, appearances, and scholarship offers by early June[4]. It is now treated as a classic Facebook Live moment rather than an actively trending meme. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQereoIxioI]() 2. [https://twitter.com/TheWookieeRoars]() 3. [https://www.facebook.com/kohls]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/candace-paynes-chewbacca-mask]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/chewbacca-mom Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library