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If you’ve been keeping up with the comedy world and his first couple of comedy specials, you might be wondering: Why did John Mulaney and Anna Marie Tendler divorce?
John Mulaney constantly mentioned his then-wife and their dog Petunia in his comedy specials like The Comeback Kid and Kid Gorgeous—having bits about their marriage and how they didn’t want kids together. “Being married is so nice. I never knew relationships were supposed to make you feel better about yourself,” he said in the Netflix comedy special Kid Gorgeous. On April 2020, the couple announced they were separating much to his fans’ shock and they eventually announced their divorce in July 2021.
So why did John Mulaney and Annamarie Tendler divorce? Read more below to find out.
Why did John Mulaney and Anna Marie Tendler divorce?
Image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Why did John Mulaney and Anna Marie Tendler divorce? Mulaney filed for divorce on July 2021. Though his reps said that John didn’t make a comment about the divorce. Tendler made a statement at the time: “I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage. I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery.”
During the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns, Mulaney relapsed into his drug addiction and his comedy friends staged an intervention in December 2020. He recounted in his comedy special Baby J that comedians like Bill Hader, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen attended the intervention to advise him to go to rehab. He then went to rehab soon right after the intervention.
“It was a relief to his wife and family that he checked in,” a source Us Weekly at the time. “It was John’s decision. Plain and simple, John had too much downtime [in quarantine]. He had too much time in his own head.”
Soon after the divorce announcement, Mulaney was speculated to be in a relationship with actress Olivia Munn. He confirmed in September 2021 that he and Munn were expecting a baby together. “I packed a lot into this [year],” he said on Late Night With Seth Meyers. “I went to rehab in September, I got out in October, I moved out of my home from my ex-wife. Then in the spring I went to Los Angeles and met and started to date a wonderful woman named Olivia. … And we’re having a baby together. I was nervous when I was about to say the news! Olivia and this baby have helped save me from myself in this early journey out of recovery.”
Image: John Shearer/Getty Images
Munn gave birth to their son Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney on November 24, 2021. On January 10, 2021, Munn took to Instagram to share a photo of Mulaney holding and kissing their newborn after the holidays. “The smooshiest smoosh 💋,” the new mom captioned the photo, which you can see below. Munn also added a note for any eagle-eyed fans who spotted the family’s Christmas decorations in the background of the photo: “And yep, our Christmas tree is still up 🙈,” she wrote.
Mulaney and Tendler married in 2014 in the Catskills mountains in New York. Their friend and fellow comedian Dan Levy officiated the wedding and the New Kid in Town comedian recalled how he proposed to Tendler in The Pete Holmes Show. After a series of mishaps on a California beach, he proposed to her. “We sat in silence in the car,” Mulaney says. “Luckily my manager kept calling to tell me my pilot hadn’t been picked up.” After, he said that the proposal was “worth it.” In a now-deleted Instagram post, he posted, “May 9 2013. I had the ring in my hand, she turned around, and before I could say ‘will you..’ she said ‘wait do you have sunscreen on?’ She’s the f**king best.”
At the time of the divorce, a source close to Tendler denied that Mulaney asked her for divorce in October 2020 and instead asked her for a divorce in February 2021, when news broke of their breakup. The insider also claimed to Page Six that Mulaney had cheated on Tendler before went to rehab again in December 2020. “Anna Marie knew he was doing things with other women before he went to rehab in December. And his claims to friends that he was trying to protect her before he went away to rehab were rubbish, she didn’t need protecting,” the source said.
The insider continued at the time, “John was using Anna Marie to protect himself. But still, she was very heartbroken that he decided to end her marriage, she was heartbroken how it went down, it wasn’t something that she wanted, she wanted to work it out. I am sure this news about the pregnancy will be very difficult for her.”
Reflecting back on the divorce, Tendler told Harper’s Bazaar, “Everything that has transpired has been totally shocking and I think surreal,” she says. “In a way, I feel like, well, it can only go up from here, because I reached the depth of where I could go.” She also said, “I feel lucky that I get to be standing on the precipice of all of these new things, that I get to possibly experience, and who knows how they will go?” she said. “And there is certainly something exciting about that.”
A source also told AJ Benza on his podcast, “Fame, Ain’t It A Bitch,” that Tendler also went to rehab after her ex-husband went to rehab. “Anna Marie was in rehab at Silver Hill for [emotional]… and eating disorders.” The source continued, “She didn’t talk at all about that, we were all on our own journey of recovery. But it is clear she suffered during their marriage.”
Tendler is currently in a relationship with chef Nicholas Tran according to Page Six. She also recently received an MA degree from NYU Steinhardt in costume studies.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, help is available. Call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for free, confidential support.
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