John Mulaney offered a glimpse into his sobriety while caring for his wife, Olivia Munn, amid her cancer battle.
He was clear about one thing: He wasn't tempted by her painkillers.
The 42-year-old comedian opened up about supporting Munn, 44, through her battle with aggressive breast cancer, which led to several surgeries, including a double mastectomy, during an appearance on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson's podcast "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," released Wednesday.
"I brought her a tray with apple juice, something she wanted to eat that her mom had made in the kitchen, and then it had Oxycontin and some sort of nerve medication and a Xanax, which they also gave just for rest and recovery," Mulaney said, according to People.
"It never crossed my mind that I was holding these medications in my hand. The obsession of it was gone. I thought, Oh, I'm so far beyond that, and I can be a good butler with the best client."
Mulaney has openly discussed his journey with sobriety, first getting clean from cocaine and alcohol in 2005. After a relapse in 2020, he entered rehab and has stayed sober ever since.
"People stay the same in so many ways — and I'm still the same person I was when I was, like, [5 years old] in so many ways — but I will admit, it's a huge change. Just a huge way of looking at everything. I'm shocked I did it. I'm shocked I was able to do it," he said.
"Become sober?" Danson asked.
"To actually stick to it in every way. To not have, Well, I still do this. To not, Well, I'm trying," he said. "Like, nothing wrong or shameful about relapse. I just mean I'm shocked, always, that it landed."
In a 2019 interview with Esquire, Mulaney said he began drinking at age 13 "for attention." He then started to dabble with illegal and prescription drugs. He decided to get sober after a 2005 bender that made him realize he had lost control.
"I went on a bender that weekend that was just, like, fading in and out of a movie," he recalled. "It was just crazy."
Mulaney said he realized he was "out of control."
"And I thought to myself, I don't like this guy anymore. I'm not rooting for him," he continued.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.