John Mulaney says toddler parenting is like working for Ellen DeGeneres

Comedian John Mulaney recently compared the experience of raising his three-year-old son, Malcolm, to the toxic work environment reported on Ellen DeGeneres‘ former talk show. During a recent stand-up special on his Netflix show, Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney, Mulaney pointed out similarities between the unpredictable challenges of parenting a toddler and the difficulties former employees said they faced while working on DeGeneres’ long-running program.

His comparison, reported by Page Six, was delivered with his usual mix of self-mocking humor and sharp observations. He focused on the sudden demands and changing moods that both situations share. Mulaney’s joke seems like a friendly jab toward DeGeneres, although it sounds a lot like it makes sense.

It is a funny way to highlight the tough aspects of both parenting and working in a high-pressure job. He described how dealing with his son sometimes feels like putting on a happy face in a difficult workplace, where people pretend everything is fine even when it’s stressful. For example, he might tell others that parenting is “fun” while actually feeling exhausted, just as an employee might publicly praise the Ellen show while privately struggling with problems behind the scenes.

John Mulaney implies Ellen was as demanding as a three-year-old

The “games” and “dancing” he mentioned in his act represented the happy moments mixed in with harder times, similar to the way former employees described their time on DeGeneres’ show. He said, “Having a 3-year-old is what I imagine working on Ellen [DeGeneres’] show was like. Because people come over and they’re like, ‘How is it?’ And you’re, like, ‘Oh, it’s fine. You know, we have fun. There’s games.’”

Mulaney said, “We have dancing, you know. So if he starts dancing, you dance, but if he stops dancing, you f–king stop dancing right away.”

This comparison made even more sense when thinking about the accusations against DeGeneres’ show in 2020. Many former staff members came forward with claims of a toxic workplace, including stories of racism, fear, and bullying.

DeGeneres denied these allegations, calling them “misogynistic,” which would imply the accusations were only brought forth because DeGeneres was a woman, and not that she did anything wrong. Enough people came forward that Ellen eventually ended her talk show in 2022 after 19 seasons.

Mulaney added to his comparison with a story about taking his son to a school concert. Malcolm got stage fright and decided to sit with his dad instead of performing. When the teacher expressed concern, saying the class had worked hard and the audience was excited to see them. Mulaney responded, “Oh, excuse me, Ms. Inez, you have no idea how much you can disappoint an audience and still bounce back in this business.” which was really a self-tease.