Working through it. John Mulaney has always chosen honesty when it comes to his struggle with addiction and his attempts to stay sober.
During his 2012 comedy special, New in Town, the former Saturday Night Live writer opened up about his decision to get sober.
“I quit drinking ’cause I used to drink too much, and then I would black out and I would ‘ruin’ parties, or so I’m told,” he shared at the time. “When you do that enough, when you black out drinking and you do crazy things you kind of become, like, Michael Jackson. Like, any story anyone says about you might be true, and even you don’t know by the end.”
Mulaney revealed in 2014 that he had been sober since September 2005. However, in December 2020, the Big Mouth star voluntarily checked into rehab seeking help for alcoholism and cocaine addiction.
A source told Us Weekly at the time that it “was a relief to his wife and family that he checked in” and got professional advice.
“It was John’s decision. Plain and simple, John had too much downtime. He had too much time in his own head,” the insider added. “John has always been engaged in his sobriety. The relapse got ugly, but it was his choice to go to rehab, which saved his life.”
The comedian left rehab in February 2021. Us confirmed his split from wife Anna Marie Tendler three months later.
“I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage,” Tendler said in a statement in May 2021. “I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery.”
A spokesperson for Mulaney later told Us, “John will not have any further comment as he continues to focus on his recovery and getting back to work.”
Shortly after his split made headlines, Us confirmed that Mulaney moved on with Olivia Munn.
During his first interview since leaving rehab, Mulaney thanked his friend Seth Meyers for staging an intervention and encouraging him to seek treatment.
“I’m so grateful to you, and to everyone there, for saving my life.” Mulaney told Meyers during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers in September 2021.
The Chicago native also revealed that he was expecting his first child with Munn and reflected on his future, adding, “You guys saved me from drugs, and Olivia and this baby have helped save me from myself.”
Scroll down for more of Mulaney’s honest quotes about his addiction journey and the road to recovery:
"I don't drink. I used to drink, then I drank too much, and I had to stop," Mulaney said during his special New in Town in 2012. "That surprises a lot of audiences because I don't look like someone who used to do anything." Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
In 2018, the comedian explained how he hid his struggles from his parents growing up. "I kept up appearances. They knew that I might go to a party and drink beer or something. They had an understanding of high school parties and they weren't idiots," he said during an interview on Off Camera. "But if I was, you know, messing around with drugs when I was very young, I knew to keep up appearances. I'd be on mushrooms and come through the front door and go, 'Hello, good evening, I'm going to be upstairs,' and then just run up." Mulaney recalled being very careful with how he behaved in front of those closest to him so they wouldn't catch on to the bigger problems he was facing. "I really was like, 'I'm going to keep my grades up and keep up appearances,'" he continued at the time. "I also didn't smoke pot. It was like I was an uptight, wanted-to-get-good-grades, wanted-my-teacher-to-like-me person. [I] wanted to be involved, was worried about college, all that stuff. Well, I wasn't that worried about college. I was worried about day-to-day life. And then on the weekends , [I] would drink like Keith Moon, and you know, take Ambien to see what it would do." Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
"I drank for attention. I was really outgoing, and then at 12, I wasn't," Mulaney told Esquire in September 2019. "I didn't know how to act. And then I was drinking, and I was hilarious again." Mulaney shared that he started drinking at age 13. While he never smoked marijuana, he used cocaine and other prescription drugs. "I wasn't a good athlete, so maybe it was some young male thing of, 'This is the physical feat I can do,'" he added. "'Three Vicodin and a tequila and I'm still standing. Who's the athlete now?'" Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock
"I went on a bender that weekend that was just, like, fading in and out of a movie," he told Esquire in September 2019, explaining his decision to sober up at age 23. "It was just crazy. A weekend that was ... there were ... I'm never going to tell you. That's mine. I didn't kill anyone or assault anyone. But yeah, I was like, 'You're f--king out of control.' And I thought to myself, 'I don't like this guy anymore. I'm not rooting for him.'" The comedian noted that he didn't use a recovery program at the time and had stayed sober since the 2005 incident. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
After seeking treatment following his 2020 relapse, Mulaney described the moment he was confronted by friends about finally getting help. "When I opened the door, I knew right away it was an intervention," he explained on on Late Night With Seth Meyers in September 2021. "That's how bad of a drug problem I had, that when I opened a door and saw people, I went, 'This is probably an intervention about my drug problem.'" Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
While speaking to Meyers in September 2021, Mulaney remembered trying to talk his way out of going to rehab. "God, I needed to be the smartest person in the room, even at the intervention," he said, remembering how Meyers helped him when he was at his lowest. "So I remember saying to all of you, 'Before you all read your letter, I have a drug problem, and I need help.' Just to scoop you. … I kept insisting I was sober at the intervention. Remember when I looked at everyone and I went, 'I'm sober now. I'm sober right now.' I wasn't. Remember when I kept going to the bathroom? That was for drugs." Although it wasn't initially what he wanted, Mulaney thanked Meyers for being there and kickstarting his path to sobriety. "I didn't want an intervention... At that moment in time, I wanted to continue using drugs," he noted. "Sitting here tonight, I'm so grateful to you and to everyone there for saving my life, OK? That night, I was not grateful." Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shutterstock
Mulaney gushed about his relationship with Munn in September 2021, announcing that they were expecting their first child together. “In the spring, I went to Los Angeles, and met and started to date a wonderful woman named Olivia," he detailed. “She got to date me right out of recovery, which is what they call a reverse catch." The Netflix star felt "really happy" because of how much the New Girl alum helped him on his journey. “I got into this relationship, and it’s been really beautiful with someone incredible," he shared. "And she’s kind of held my hand through that hell. It is a very, very lucky thing to have met this woman." Michael Simon/Shutterstock
While hosting SNL for the fifth time in February 2022, Mulaney offered more insight on his decision to get sober. "For many, many reasons, I'm grateful to be here tonight after a very complicated year. It is wonderful to be in a place that's always emphasized sobriety and mental health. Since I last hosted, different things have happened," he shared, referring to his December 2020 intervention. “Do you know how big of a drug problem you have to have if you open a door and see people gathered, your first thought is that this is probably an intervention about my drug problem?” Following a funny bit about breaking up with his drug dealer, the stand-up comedian gushed about his son. "We were in the delivery room. My girlfriend had just given birth to him and he's crying a little, so they bring him over to this warmer on the other side of the delivery room, and they put them on the warmer under this big bright light and light is just shining in his eyes," Mulaney reflected on son Malcom's November 2021 birth. "He just looks up at the light and [he squints]. He was annoyed, but he didn't say anything. I was like, 'That's my son.' A polite man in an uncomfortable situation, but he's not going to make a fuss. He’s a very good boy.” Will Heath/NBC
from Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/CvrE7Ul
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