Nick Kroll reveals devastating details about John Mulaney's ‘brutal' intervention: ‘Scared' he was going to die
The 'Big Mouth' star, 46, appeared on the new episode of Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert' podcast and opened up about staging a drug intervention for Mulaney, 42, in 2020.
'It was so scary and brutal to go through,' said Kroll. 'He was in New York. I was in LA. It was at the height of the pandemic. So it was incredibly, literally, stressful to be in the midst of that, trying to literally coordinate and produce an intervention, bringing a bunch of people together, friends from college.'
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7 Nick Kroll, John Mulaney at the 'John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.' Netflix FYSEE Photo Call in June 2024.
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Kroll recalled that Mulaney, his longtime friend and collaborator, 'was running around New York City like a true madman' at the time.
'And I was so deeply scared that he was gonna die,' he added.
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7 Nick Kroll on 'Armchair Expert.'
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The comedian explained that he 'orchestrated' the planning of the intervention which was 'f—ing stressful.' Kroll also said that the process gave him new insight into the pair's friendship.
'All of a sudden, you're going back, being like, 'Oh, oh, oh — that's why I've had an inconsistent friend for the last X amount of time. Oh, this explains that,'' Kroll shared. 'And so, it gives you both empathy for them, and also a tremendous amount of anger because they've been lying to you.'
7 John Mulaney and Nick Kroll attend the afterparty for 'Oh, Hello On Broadway' in 2016.
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7 Nick Kroll and John Mulaney attend the Michael Che and Colin Jost's Emmys After Party in 2018.
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Recalling an emotional conversation he had with Mulaney days before the intervention, Kroll said, 'I just sat on the ground, on the phone with him, both of us crying. I said, 'I'm so scared you're going to die.' And I could feel him feeling the same way, but also like — 'Yeah, yeah, yeah…anyway, I gotta go. I'm at a new Airbnb.''
Mulaney believed he was going to a college friend's dinner when the intervention took place in New York City. Some of his closest friends were there, including Kroll and Seth Meyers.
'When he came out of rehab and started doing standup all about it, he was still pretty f—ing pissed about the intervention cause he was having a good time,' Kroll recalled. 'So he was pretty angry.'
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7 Nick Kroll and John Mulaney at the 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards.
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The 'Saturday Night Live' alum went to rehab for his addiction to cocaine and prescription pills for two months in December 2020. He poked fun at the experience in his 2023 Netflix special, 'John Mulaney: Baby J,' which didn't sit well with Kroll.
'All of a sudden, I was like, 'Oh, I don't know if I like having jokes about me,'' said Kroll. 'But then we talked about it and I was like, 'I don't like how you're representing this,' and he was like, 'I hear you. I totally hear you.''
7 Nick Kroll and John Mulaney at the Keep It Clean To Benefit Waterkeeper Alliance in March 2018.
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'And everyone's process and art is different,' Kroll noted. 'So what he's willing to share is what makes him so f—ing funny and dynamic and intoxicating as a performer. He's giving you a written version of his life, but he's giving you access to elements of himself. But it's what makes him such an amazing standup.'
Mulaney has been sober since leaving rehab. He married actress Olivia Munn in July 2024 and they have two children together, son Malcolm, 3, and daughter Méi, 8 months.
7 John Mulaney and Olivia Munn at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
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Munn, 44, told GQ last year that she staged her own mini-intervention for Mulaney before he went to rehab.
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The 'Your Friends and Neighbors' actress also shared that she still randomly drug tests Mulaney to help keep him sober.
'It's like a relief,' Mulaney said in the GQ interview. 'I like to be able to not even have that be a question in her or anyone else's mind. Something about peeing in that cup is like, I'm walking this walk. It gives me confidence.'
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