Los Angeles: The Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria employee who delivered pizza at the 86th Academy Awards got a tip of $1,000 on stand-up comedian and host Ellen DeGeneres’s popular chat show.
Edgar, the pizza delivery boy, came on DeGeneres’ show March 3 with the host calling him “the (Oscar) night’s biggest winner”, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
The restaurant told the website that the Oscar order was for 20 pizzas with cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and olives.
“My next guest was delivering pizzas last night and little did he know he’d be delivering them to some of the biggest stars in the world,” DeGeneres said before showing a clip of Edgar in action at Dolby Theatre on live TV.
He then walked onto her set carrying a box of pizza.
Edgar revealed that he was under the impression that he was delivering the pie to writers and producers, and when he arrived at the venue, DeGeneres came out and said, “Follow me,” ultimately leading him onstage and into the audience.
“I was shocked. I didn’t know it was going to be something (like) this. It was really crazy,” Edgar said of the experience, adding that Julia Roberts is one of his favourite stars, so it was surreal to give her a slice of pizza.
“I was always watching her movies back in Moscow. So it was something crazy to me to deliver (her pizza),” he added.
On the awards night, DeGeneres collected tips using rapper Pharrell Williams’ hat, and on the show, DeGeneres gave him the $600 she collected plus another $400 to make it $1,000.
Earlier, the pizzeria chain told the website that the order was placed March 1, but they didn’t know how big it would be until Sunday. Still, Edgar was surprised he got to be on TV, employee Gabriel Ajxub said.
“We knew it was going to the Oscars, but didn’t know it was for the stars. They just told us it was going to be for the people there,” Ajxub said.