John Mulaney checked into a rehab clinic in Pennsylvania this past weekend because of his abuse to alcohol and cocaine, according to Page Six. He will remain there for 60 days.
In the past, the 38-year-old stand-up/actor/writer has been open about his struggles with sobriety, saying that he started abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age.
A source that spoke to Page Six says that the comic had a relapse that was attributed to the pandemic, stating: "John’s friends and family are happy that he’s finally getting some help and focusing on his health."
“His fans know he’s struggled in the past with sobriety, he has talked about it openly. Unfortunately he has struggled again during the pandemic."
The source added that Mulaney's “on board with his recovery, he’s not fighting against rehab.”
In an interview for a 2019 Esquire cover story, Mulaney said that he began drinking alcohol at age 13 and that that then gave way to doing drugs.
“I drank for attention,” he told the outlet. “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.”
He said that he never really enjoyed smoking weed, but that he "loved" cocaine and also tried prescription drugs.
"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,'” he continued. “Who’s the athlete now?”
From there he said the breaking point was a bender that occurred in 2005 when he was 23 years old.
"I went on a bender that weekend that was just, like, fading in and out of a movie … It was just crazy … I was like, ‘You’re fucking out of control,'” he said. “And I thought to myself, ‘I don’t like this guy anymore. I’m not rooting for him.'"
In his 2012 special New in Town, he also openly shared that "I don’t drink. I used to drink, then I drank too much, and I had to stop. That surprises a lot of audiences, because I don’t look like someone who used to do anything.”
He says that he stopped doing both coke and alcohol within a month of one another, saying that it wasn't due to rehab, but rather that he just stopped them both cold turkey. He went on to have many years of sobriety.
As for his career, last month Mulaney joined the writing staff of Late Night with Seth Meyers, telling (other) late night host Jimmy Kimmel that it helped to normalize his life during quarantine.
"During quarantine, I was like, ‘Why am I going totally crazy and why am I suddenly telling my own wife my accomplishments?’” Mulaney said on Kimmel's show earlier in December. “I really needed a job.”
He added that the staff writing gig gives his life structure, saying “One, I like having a boss and having assignments to do. When I’m in charge of something, not so much the best thing.”
