John Mulaney is seeking treatment for alcoholism and cocaine addiction after nearly 20 years of sobriety.
The 38-year-old comedian checked into a rehab facility in Pennsylvania earlier this month and will attend a 60-day program, The New York Post’s Page Six reported on Monday, December 21.
The Chicago native has spoken openly about his past struggles with addiction, covering the personal topic in his Netflix stand-up specials New in Town, The Comeback Kid and Kid Gorgeous. Mulaney, who married makeup artist Annamarie Tendler in July 2014, reflected on his teenage drinking habit during a September 2019 interview with Esquire.
“I drank for attention,” the former Saturday Night Live writer explained at the time. “I was really outgoing, and then at 12, I wasn’t. I didn’t know how to act. And then I was drinking, and I was hilarious again.”
Experimenting with drugs followed suit. “I never liked smoking pot. Then I tried cocaine, and I loved it,” Mulaney told the outlet. “I wasn’t a good athlete, so maybe it was some young male thing of, ‘This is the physical feat I can do. Three Vicodin and a tequila and I’m still standing. Who’s the athlete now?'”
The Big Mouth star stopped using cocaine in August 2005 at age 23 and quit drinking the following month.
“I went on a bender that weekend that was just, like, fading in and out of a movie,” he remembered. “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.'”
At the time, Mulaney didn’t use a recovery program or counseling, but instead quit abusing substances cold turkey. According to Esquire, he had never fallen off the wagon since.
Mulaney recently took Pete Davidson under his wing as the 27-year-old New York native has continued to struggle with his own mental health issues in the public eye. In December 2018, Davidson shared suicidal thoughts in an Instagram post after splitting from fiancée Ariana Grande. One month later, Mulaney joined the King of Staten Island actor on a “Weekend Update” segment on SNL.
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“I’ve been spending time with Pete to try to show him that you can have a life in comedy that is not insane — a sober, domestic life,” Mulaney teased at the time as the twosome prepared to hit the road together for a comedy tour. “Pete, look at me. You are loved by many and we are glad you are OK.”
Mulaney hosted SNL for the fourth time in October. The following month, he took a job writing on Late Night With Seth Meyers to bring more structure back into his life amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“During quarantine, I was like, ‘Why am I going totally crazy and why am I suddenly telling my wife my accomplishments?’ Like, ‘I had a Comedy Central Presents when I was 23 years old,'” he joked during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in December. “I really needed a job. One, I like having a boss, I like having assignments to do. When I’m in charge of something, [it’s] not so much the best thing. I wanted to have a boss and I wanted to have structure. Because my psychiatrist, who knows me well, said, ‘Without external structure, I don’t have confidence in you thriving.'”
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