John Mulaney is sharing the “intervention” that wife Olivia Munn staged for him.
A few years ago, John Mulaney pivoted from a marriage that he’d made part of his stand-up specials and professional brand. Suddenly, he was divorcing his now ex-wife and impregnating Olivia Munn.
This change, which happened over a span of months, didn’t come out of nowhere. The beloved comedian had just been to rehab and was clearly reimagining his life.
Addiction recovery is a journey, not an event. As part of that, John Mulaney explains, Olivia Munn staged a miniature intervention to help keep him sober.
John Mulaney poses on the red carpet as he arrives for ‘The Prelude to the Olympics’ at The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris on July 25, 2024. (Photo Credit: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Olivia Munn gave John Mulaney an intervention when he needed one
On Tuesday, November 12, GQ announced John Mulaney as the publication’s Man of the Year.
For many years, the comedian has been open about his struggles with substance abuse and addiction. Recently, his life has changed.
Over the past few years, he ended his marriage, went into rehab, and became a father of two with new wife Olivia Munn in short order. Now, he’s opening up about his ongoing recovery.
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn attend Vogue World: Paris at Place Vendome on June 23, 2024. (Photo Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Vogue)
“There was a time when I would have told you that I could not fly, sleep, or perform unless I had a Klonopin,” John Mulaney admitted. Klonopin is the brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine that helps with, among other things, anxiety.
“I would have said, ‘It sucks because I don’t always want to take Klonopin and Xanax, but I have to,’” he described.
In December 2020, John Mulaney checked himself into rehab, but not for prescription anxiety medication. That was for cocaine and alcohol dependency.
John Mulaney attends the photo call for Netflix’s “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” at Saban Media Center on June 06, 2024. (Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
One ‘insane’ night of drugs was (almost) his wake-up call
According to the comedian, he had an “insane” night before rehab. A night where he worried that he might die from how many drugs that he’d taken.
“I thought, ‘Okay … I’m going to totally slow down. That was like a Tuesday. And Thursday night, I did it again,” John Mulaney explained.
More recently, Olivia Munn staged a “mini” intervention, he characterized it, as part of his recovery. When she was six months pregnant, she began randomly drug-testing him.
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn attend the 96th Annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024. (Photo Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
“It’s like a relief … I like to be able to not even have that be a question in her or anyone else’s mind,” John Mulaney then expressed.
“Something about peeing in that cup is like, I’m walking this walk,” he then explained. “It gives me confidence.”
John Mulaney noted that the intervention from Olivia Munn is just one aspect of his recovery journey, and of their relationship. He also acknowledged that getting together while he was just beginning his recovery journey was really not putting his best foot forward as a partner.
John Mulaney speaks on stage during Broadway Preview: “All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich” during the 2024 New Yorker Festival at Webster Hall on October 27, 2024. (Photo Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
There’s more to John Mulaney and Olivia Munn’s marriage than intervention and recovery
In May of 2021, the world first learned of John Mulaney and Olivia Munn’s romance. They married in July and have two children, Malcolm and Méi.
Notably, Mulaney’s very public breakup with ex-wife Anna Marie Tendler troubled many of his fans. He had spent years praising his childfree marriage in stand-up. While anyone is allowed to change their mind at any time, his abrupt pivot to divorce and having children was alienating to fans whom he’d previously attracted.
John Mulaney inviting Dave Chappelle as a surprise opener also drove away now-former fans. Chappelle’s controversies became Mulaney’s by proxy. But even his critics are glad to hear about his sobriety success.
John Mulaney Reveals the Intervention Olivia Munn Staged to Keep Him Sober was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.