John Mulaney Recalls This GQ Interview He Gave Days Before Rehab In Baby J

Trigger warning: This piece contains descriptions and true accounts of substance misuse.

John Mulaney’s latest Netflix comedy special Baby J is different than his previous standup acts. He discusses his intervention in late 2020 and subsequent stint in rehab, among other things. Near the end of the 80-minute special filmed at Boston Symphony Hall in February, he references an interview he gave GQ days before said intervention. The article, titled “John Mulaney Is “Never Relevant, and Therefore Never Irrelevant,” features Mulaney’s thoughts on a haunted building in New York and his 2019 special The Sack Lunch Bunch.

The article's introduction notes the interview's timing, which occurred on Dec. 15, 2020. “This conversation took place two weeks ago, before news broke that Mulaney had checked himself into a 60-day stay at rehab. GQ wishes him a speedy recovery,” it reads.

Over two years later, Mulaney notes that he is doing well, and he joked that he has the article for posterity as a reminder of the more difficult times in his life. “If I ever feel that I need a reminder of just how bad things used to be,” Mulaney says during the last 10 minutes of his set while holding up the magazine article, “I luckily have this.”

“This is an interview that I gave to GQ magazine that I have absolutely no memory of giving,” he continues. “Have you ever had a conversation on drugs that you don’t remember having the next day? Was it a very long interview?” Mulaney recalls that a reporter had apparently called to interview him while he “was on a lot of cocaine,” and then proceeds to read some highlights from the chaotic “wide-ranging conversation.”

In one part of the article, Mulaney spoke about what he did that day, which was passing by “supposedly the most haunted building in New York City.” GQ then asked if he got “a chill or a bad vibe” at the time. Mulaney responded, “It doesn't give me a bad vibe anymore. I think when I first walked past it, I knew what it was. So maybe I faked the bad vibes.” While reading this aloud during his special, Mulaney pauses, faces the audience, and asks, “What could he mean?”

He continues to read tidbits from the article, appearing baffled by his answers. “By the way, they have editors,” he cheekily notes. “They could have helped me out.”

Frazier Tharpe, the GQ editor who interviewed Mulaney in late 2020, responded to the mention in Baby J. “Our conversation was as loose, wide-ranging and whimsical as I hoped it would be—but for the wrong reasons, as I’d soon learn,” he wrote. Tharpe also said he’d love to chat with the comedian again. “If John Mulaney is interested in doing an interview he’ll actually remember, I’m here whenever he’s ready. I’ll bring the Froot Loops.”

Throughout the special, Mulaney mentions how he struggled with substance misuse of several drugs, telling audiences about the night his friends (which include Seth Meyers, Nick Kroll, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Natasha Lyonne) staged an intervention. “As mad as I was when I walked in there, I was like, this is a good lineup, this is really flattering in its own way,” he says of the “star-studded intervention.”

Mulaney remains appreciative of their efforts. “Getting to do this show, and standing here, listen, I am grateful to everyone at my intervention. They intervened. They confronted me, and they totally saved my life.”

If you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).