Capping off a bizarre and different year, comedian John Mulaney appeared on Seth Meyers’ late night talk show tonight and had an announcement. He’s having a baby with actress Olivia Munn.
As most people know, Mulaney is in the process of divorcing his wife of six years, Anna Marie Tendler. He famous went into rehab a year ago and then again in December 2020. He came out of it in February 2021, and launched a sold tour of shows in which he described his rapid descent into drugs and alcohol, his intervention, and recovery.
If Munn is announcing the pregnancy now, it means she became pregnant in mid May. She and Mulaney have his set social media aflame because they claim to have started dating in February. But there are numerous stories about Munn contacting Mulaney as far back as 2015.
What’s the difference? I guess you say, congratulations and we hope it all works out. But the Meyers interview — totally not advertised in advance — is meant to soften the blow of this latest development. Mulaney’s happy marriage was part of his act, and he seemed above things like serious drug addiction and its fallout.
The interview, like his current show, was depressing. He kept laughing, Meyers tried to put on a good face, but you feel it in the pit of your stomach. This is all some kind of disaster. Yes, people are paying to see Mulaney in theater and clubs because they want to see a car crash. They are rubber necking. He doesn’t get that. When I saw him at City Winery in NYC on May 10th he was was accompanied to the by his interventionist. That seems to be around the time he started a family.
So here we are. Everyone hopes for the best, but as a friend of mine used to say, this is going to end in tears.