Comedian John Mulaney has entered rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. The "Saturday Night Live” alum and star relapsed with cocaine and alcohol amid the coronavirus pandemic and decided to check himself into a rehabilitation facility in Pennsylvania over the weekend, a source revealed to Page Six.
"John’s friends and family are happy that he’s finally getting some help and focusing on his health," the insider said.
Mulaney has been open about his struggles with cocaine, prescription drugs, and alcohol. He first got clean at age 23 but relapsed earlier this year, the source explained.
"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. He’s on board with his recovery, he’s not fighting against rehab."
Mulaney told Esquire in a cover story last year that 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. Mulaney quit drinking alcohol and, weeks later, taking drugs. He did not enter a program but instead decided to do it himself by going cold turkey.
News of his relapse comes shortly after Mulaney revealed on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live" that he was once under investigation by the secret service for a joke he told during his monologue on ''SNL'' last February. He explained that the joke did not directly mention Donald Trump but referenced Julius Caesar, who was "stabbed to death by a bunch of senators because he went crazy."
Mulaney was let off the hook because the joke was "an elliptical reference to him [Trump]." There was no mention of him, or any direct threats.
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.
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