John Mulaney has a true friend in Jimmy Kimmel – or perhaps something more! The comedian opened up about staying in Kimmel’s guest house for several weeks after his rehab stint in 2020.
While appearing on Tuesday’s (April 25) broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mulaney spoke about his latest Netflix comedy special called Baby J.
Mulaney addresses his struggles with addiction and recent stay in rehab during the special, which has since premiered on the streamer.
On the ABC talk show, Kimmel asked Mulaney about the intervention that led him to rehab. He joked that his friends disguised the event as a “dinner,” to which he was two hours late. “Coke addicts aren’t known for their appetites,” Mulaney joked. “It was not a pressing concern.”
Kimmel then questioned Mulaney about the events that followed, specifically what led him to occupying his guest house for several weeks.
Mulaney said, “You’ve always been kind to people that come over to dinner and you say – I don’t know if you realize how often – ‘If anybody ever need to stay in this guest house, it’s always open.'”
The comedian joked that he “filed” that information away and called Kimmel after he completed rehab and was transitioning out of a sober living situation. “I was coming to LA and I called you and I said, ‘Hey, I’m between lives. You’ve always mentioned this guest house,” Mulaney recalled.
He told the audience, “I was thinking like, ‘I’m gonna call his bluff. He’s said it enough times.’ So, I lived in his guest house for a few weeks and another few weeks.”
Kimmel quipped, “It was like we had adopted a son.”
However, Mulaney said it differently, likening Kimmel to his “sugar daddy.” He recalled waking up to a “basket of bagels” and using a “nice restaurant-quality espresso machine.”
“He was like my sugar daddy,” Mulaney joked.
Baby J premiered on Netflix earlier this week to positive reviews. Decider’s Sean McCarthy praised its versatility in his review, writing, “There are plenty of jokes made at his own expense throughout the special, along with observations that might make you ponder why you make any public transactions over Venmo, the actual purpose of baby-changing stations in public bathrooms, as well as sharing in the delight in making strangers think you’re getting talked off the ledge by legendary actor Al Pacino.”
Mulaney spoke sincerely about the intervention during his Netflix special, telling the audience, “Do you know how bad of a drug problem you have to have if, when you open a door and see people gathered, your first and immediate thought is, ‘This is probably an intervention about my drug problem?'”
The intervention featured several popular comedians who have collaborated with Mulaney in the past, including Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen.
Watch John Mulaney’s full appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the video above.