Comedian and actor John Mulaney‘s newest Netflix comedy special John Mulaney: Baby J (or just Baby J for short) is here and in it, the Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers star opens up about the last few years of his life. While his professional life has been great — the actor continues to carve out a strong voice acting career with films like Puss in Boots after impressing audiences in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse — Mulaney’s personal life has been publicly chaotic, at best.
In Baby J, Mulaney opens up about his public struggles with addiction to alcohol, prescription drugs, and cocaine, and how his struggles with addiction impacted his relationships. If you’ve ever been a Mulaney fan, or even casually watched his earlier stand-up specials, you would know Mulaney was married to artist Anna Marie Tendler, who he began dating in 2010. Mulaney portrayed their relationship as a great one, frequently talking about how much he loved his wife in his standup, saying things, “Being married is so nice. I never knew relationships were supposed to make you feel better about yourself,” in his comedy specials (this quote is from 2015’s The Comeback Kid). Many of Mulaney fans had also become fans of his relationship, and so were shocked when the couple announced their divorce.
Behind his bright persona, Mulaney had been struggling with addiction for years and in December 2020, a group of his comedian friends staged an intervention for him. What Mulaney thought was dinner with a friend, turned into a decidedly unfunny conversation with actors like Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Nick Kroll, who told him he needed to get clean. Mulaney took the advice to heart and checked himself into rehab later that month. The news of his rehab stay shocked many of his fans, as Mulaney had reportedly been sober for 14 years before he relapsed. A source told Us Weekly at the time that Tendler was proud of John for getting the help he needed, and that she supported his decision.
After two months, Mulaney left rehab. Shortly after, he announced his divorce with Tendler in May 2021. Tendler gave a statement to People magazine at the time, saying, “I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage. I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery.” Mulaney rebuffed any further comment past the initial report. According to a Page Six report, an “insider” told the publication that Mulaney had been cheating on Tendler and asked for the divorce immediately after exiting rehab in February 2021, but this has not been confirmed by either camp.
Shortly thereafter in September 2021, Mulaney and his new girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn, announced they were expecting their first child together. Mulaney went onto his close friend Seth Meyer’s show and talked about his “eventful” year and opened up about his road to recovery and his relationship with Munn. “Then in the spring I went to Los Angeles and met and started to date a wonderful woman named Olivia, Olivia Munn … It was a very lucky thing to have met this woman … And we’re having a baby, together.” Munn gave birth to their son Malcolm Mulaney on Nov. 24, 2021.
