John Mulaney and Anna Marie Tendler. Getty Images (2)
John Mulaney‘s rehab journey and divorce are still sparking interest more than three years later.
Mulaney, 42, was named the GQ‘s Comedian of the Year for their 2024 Men of the Year issue. In his cover story, published Tuesday, November 12, Mulaney speaks candidly about his new chapter in Los Angeles with Olivia Munn and their two children.
“You might think this is bulls—, but it feels very distant,” Mulaney says of the widespread interest in his personal life and dissection of his “nice guy” persona. (“I very much tried to tell everyone,” he jokes, clarifying, “What I said is that I look harmless.”)
GQ‘s cover story notes that “Mulaney declines to talk about his first marriage” but presents a breakdown of the comedian’s past four years — including a second rehab stint.
“In 2020, while living in New York City, he entered rehab, for addiction to cocaine and a smorgasbord of pharmaceuticals. He and his wife, Anna Marie Tendler, split up. He relapsed. He went back to rehab, this time with the help of a starry intervention that has since passed into legend thanks to his Emmy-winning Netflix special, Baby J,” the profile reads. “This time, the sobriety stuck. Soon after, he connected with Munn and, soon after that, it became known that she was pregnant.”
Us Weekly confirmed in May 2021 that Mulaney and Tendler, 39, split after nearly seven years of marriage. Three months prior, Mulaney completed a 60-day rehab program for drug and alcohol addiction.
“I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage,” Tendler said in a statement regarding the pair’s divorce. “I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery.”
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn. Stefanie Keenan/WireImage)
Mulaney’s spokesperson noted at the time, “John will not have any further comment as he continues to focus on his recovery and getting back to work.”
When news broke in December 2020 that Mulaney checked himself into rehab, a source exclusively told Us that the decision came as a “relief to his wife and family,” adding that Mulaney’s choice to get professional help “saved his life.”
In May 2021 — the same month Mulaney’s split from Tendler made headlines — Us confirmed his relationship with Munn, 44. He announced in September 2021 that the pair were expecting their first baby, and son Malcolm arrived two months later. Mulaney and Tendler finalized their divorce in January 2022.
Despite reports otherwise, Munn told the outlet that her relationship with Mulaney “wasn’t anything close to ‘dating’” at first, admitting, “I barely knew him.”
Munn also opened up about seeing Mulaney adjust to sobriety. “It was like watching a man in a tsunami,” she said. “I was watching someone newly sober, at the edge of a cliff, and I didn’t know him well enough to help him.”
The couple quietly tied the knot in July. Two months later, Mulaney and Munn announced they welcomed daughter Mei via surrogate.
Like Mulaney, Tendler has shared little about the events that led to the former couple’s divorce. She released her memoir, Men Have Called Her Crazy, earlier this year about her own journey with in-patient treatment for suicidal ideation and disordered eating. Mulaney isn’t mentioned in the book.
“I definitely wrote it for women,” Tendler told Variety in August. “I hope men read it too. I wanted to write something that was for women that are kind of angry, but also were living in the world. … If I’m experiencing the same tones, over and over and over again, that means that there are a lot of other women who are as well.”
