Stanley of The Office Pitches Show, Endures Racist Abuse

The good news for fans of The Office: Actor Leslie David Baker, aka Stanley, really wants to do a spinoff based on his character. The bad news: When Baker began raising funds for the project on Kickstarter, he ran into a torrent of racist abuse, reports NBC News. Baker has been sharing examples on Instagram. "You cannot fight racism and combat those types of stereotypical attitudes if you pretend that they don't exist," Baker tells USA Today. "All too often in America, people have been so concerned about being made to feel uncomfortable, because they aren't confronted by racist behavior."

It seems Baker's supporters are winning the day. As of Saturday, the Kickstarter campaign had raised $353,000, surpassing its goal of $300,000. And former castmates including Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, and Kate Flannery have offered support. The premise of the proposed show is that Stanley's nephew, a widower, asks him for help raising two young children. "I kept getting asked the same questions over and over about the character of Stanley," explains Baker. "What is he doing now?" He adds, "According to the audience, they didn't feel that his journey was over yet, so we're gonna see where that takes us." (Read more stories about The Office.)