In a new interview with David Letterman‘s Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, John Mulaney revealed something Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels shared about sobriety and addiction.
Mulaney recalled how Michaels invoked John Belushi, who died in 1982 at 33 after struggling with addiction.
While in rehab, Mulaney received a call from Michaels.
“He goes, ‘I knew John Belushi for seven years. I’ve been talking about him for 48 years, because that’s the shrapnel that happens when someone goes down like that,’” Mulaney said.
Belushi died from a combination of cocaine and heroin during a days-long drug binge.
“And [Michaels] goes, ‘You know, John didn’t want to die. You know, he didn’t plan to. Just because it’s a story, just because it’s sort of set in stone like history, people don’t want to die from this.’”
Mulaney checked into rehab in December 2020.
But Mulaney revealed to Letterman that he tried to leave rehab early after only four days at the facility. That’s when a doctor made a comment that stuck.
“He didn’t argue or anything. He just went, ‘John. We both know how this movie ends.’ And that was it,” Mulaney said. “I just kind of nodded and went back to my room and stayed.”