John Mulaney says Olivia Munn staged mini-intervention during pregnancy, issued random drug tests: 'It's like a relief'

In recent conversation with GQ about fatherhood and sobriety, John Mulaney recalled a mini-intervention from wife Olivia Munn about six months into her first pregnancy.

The couple agreed that Munn would issue random drug tests after learning that they were expecting their first child, a son named Malcolm, now 2 — and it's a ritual they still implement today. "It’s like a relief,” said Mulaney of the practice. “I like to be able to not even have that be a question in her or anyone else’s mind. Something about peeing in that cup is like, I’m walking this walk. It gives me confidence.”

The comedian, who has long been vocal about his drug addiction struggles, relapsed and checked into rehab at the end of 2020, a journey he candidly recounts in his Emmy-winning 2023 Netflix special Baby J. He also separated from his longtime wife Anna Marie Tendler around that time and began a relationship with Munn soon after, a move that was heavily scrutinized. “You might think this is bullshit, but it feels very distant," he said of that period of tabloid fervor.

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Munn and Mulaney welcomed Malcolm in November 2021 after a whirlwind coupling. “It wasn’t anything close to ‘dating,’" Munn told GQ of the relationship. “I barely knew him.” Upon learning of the pregnancy, “It wasn’t necessarily ‘We’re going to be married and live together’ or any of that, but it was ‘I will be involved in some way,'" she said.

She recalled of her partner's post-rehab period, "It was like watching a man in a tsunami. I was watching someone newly sober, at the edge of a cliff, and I didn’t know him well enough to help him." The two ultimately decided to co-parent as a couple and wed over the summer. They welcomed a second child together, a daughter named Mei born via surrogate, in September.

Mulaney recently returned to Studio 8H earlier this month to host Saturday Night Live alongside musical guest Chappell Roan, marking his sixth time as host. He served as a writer for the series between 2008 and 2013, where he contributed to a number of memorable sketches and characters, including the co-creation of Bill Hader's beloved Stefon.

His monologue similarly touched on navigating fatherhood while taking care of his own parents, as well as his stint in rehab and the tabloid frenzy surrounding his relationship with Munn. "In 2020 I was in a drug rehab facility. I was on the phone with my dad and he was very emotional," said Mulaney in the monologue. "And he was trying to think of something wise to say and at one point he goes, 'I just wish grandpa were here.'"

Quipped Mulaney, "I said, 'Dad, if grandpa were here, he would be 118 years old, and I highly doubt he would have good advice about handling social media backlash."