Wait, Why Are People Being Weird About John Mulaney and Olivia Munn Now?

It’s been nearly three years since comedian John Mulaney and artist Anna Marie Tendler lit gossip sites on fire with their announcement that they were separating, but, judging from some recent rumblings online, some parasocial fans still haven’t moved on from the apparent betrayal of Mulaney divorcing his wife and shacking up with actress Olivia Munn. This all came to a head in the past week, when all three members of the cursed trifecta were thrust into the public eye for very different, but inextricable, reasons. Between a book announcement, an Oscars appearance, a shocking health revelation, and rather unhinged social-media responses to all of the above, the current confusion surrounding the comedian and his personal life seems to be best summed up in a question: Why are people angry with Mulaney now? Fear not, as we’re going to walk through it together.

Sorry, I have a life of my own, so I’m not hung up on Mulaney’s relationships. Can you refresh me on what went down the last time he was in tabloid headlines?

Hop in my time machine and let’s take a journey all the way back to early 2021. In February, news broke that Mulaney—who, a few months earlier, had checked himself into a rehab facility to address alcohol addiction and cocaine abuse—was leaving rehab. Everyone was happy for him, until, months later, a divorce announcement publicized the end of his six-year marriage with his then-wife Anna Marie Tendler. This shocked Mulaney fans for many reasons. The first: Mulaney’s persona in his comedy was that of a Wife Guy, who consistently folded cute anecdotes of his wife and their seemingly very happy union into his stand-up. Second, it was clear that this breakup wasn’t amicable. Not only were there reported rumors of infidelity on Mulaney’s part, but also, upon the announcement, Tendler laid the blame for the decision entirely on the comedian, saying via spokesperson, “I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage. … I wish him support and success as he continues recovery.”

While this was squarely nobody’s business, the optics weren’t great for Mulaney. It looked like he had suspiciously dumped his wife after she had supported him during his relapse and in his journey to recovery. Then, the third surprise landed when it was revealed shortly after the announcement of the divorce, that Mulaney began dating actress Olivia Munn right out of recovery—and she was pregnant with their child.

The internet was not OK about this. Despite not actually knowing Mulaney, Tendler, Munn, or the timeline of their relationships, Mulaney’s longtime supporters got very angry at his supposed betrayal of his wife. They felt bamboozled, hoodwinked, amok. And they handled it absolutely horribly. The word parasocial reached new heights of internet virality—and thus, new heights of overusing the word in discourse until it became divorced from all meaning.

OK, that was in 2021. What happened to bring this maelstrom up again?

On March 5, Tendler announced a new forthcoming memoir titled Men Have Called Her Crazy, which would detail her experience of checking into a psychiatric hospital in early 2021, amid her divorce from Mulaney, for anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Of course, this memoir is likely to talk about not only her mental health journey, but the events that preceded her “severe mental health breakdown.” Like, for example, the end of her marriage. The memoir will be released in August, and those who preordered the book are patiently waiting to get the lowdown on the juicy gossip of this woman scorned.

A memoir! Éscandalo! While Tendler was girlbossing and telling her side of the story, what was the unraveling drama with Mulaney and Munn? 

Not long after, on March 10, eyebrows were raised by Mulaney fans when it appeared that the comedian had shown up as a presenter for the 96^th Academy Awards without Munn as his date. You see, on a scale of Beyoncé/Jay-Z secrecy to Blake Lively/Ryan Reynolds endless meme-posting, Munn and Mulaney are smack dab in the middle when it comes to letting the public into their relationship. They often post glimpses of their cute and funny intimate moments, or sweet interactions with their toddler son, Malcolm. Recently, these posts had begun to dry up, and when it looked like Mulaney had attended the Oscars without Munn, some internet idlers began speculating that the couple had broken up. The new narrative, as some told it, went: Mulaney had gone to rehab, dumped his wife, promptly got with Munn, got her pregnant, and then tossed her aside—and what a shitty thing that would have been, if it were the truth!

So, they’re not separated?

Nope! Not even a little bit! In fact, Munn did attend the Oscars with Mulaney (in a sleek custom Fendi dress, might I add). I guess some people just don’t have Google.

Since we’re here, I’ll ask: If everything is fine between the two, why did this relatively online couple go somewhat radio silent?

The real story is much more serious. On Wednesday, Munn took to Instagram to divulge that in the spring of 2023, she had been diagnosed with “an aggressive, fast-moving” variation of breast cancer. “In the past 10 months I have had four surgeries,” she wrote, the biggest one being a 10-hour double mastectomy. She explained that her (very understandable) desire to recover in private is what resulted in the lack of social media response, saying, “I needed to catch my breath and get through some of the hardest parts before sharing.”

Oh! That’s tough and scary, but I’m glad she’s going to be all right. I assume everyone online was very normal and apologetic about this? 

Absolutely not. Most, of course, were sending Munn and Mulaney well wishes. But some distasteful posters instead saw Munn’s illness as karmic payback for Mulaney’s supposed maltreatment of Tendler. Others even found the timing of Munn’s statement to be shady, accusing her of attempting to steal the shine from Tendler’s memoir announcement.

Wow. People made assumptions about Mulaney and Munn because they’re still mad at him for something that they have nothing to do with, and then proceeded to be nasty online when their assumptions were proved wrong? Shocking.

Indeed, although to be fair, I can’t paint with a broad brush and say that all of Tendler’s supporters or Mulaney’s ex-fans are being rude about this—it seems to be more the case that a handful of particularly vitriolic social-media posts from a select number of people are being amplified and called out. In conclusion, maybe there’s not much more to it, beyond serving as a useful story about a well-to-do woman who sought out preventive care for cancer treatment, caught her diagnosis early, and took the necessary steps to maintain her health. Kudos, Olivia!