John Mulaney shares Lorne Michaels' words of wisdom about John Belushi and addiction

The entertainment industry is full of troubled characters and addictive personalities, and Saturday Night Live is no exception. More than one talented star from the long-running sketch show has experienced tragedy, and it’s clear that SNL godfather Lorne Michaels has taken even more care with the younger generation to prevent history from repeating itself. This is evidenced in a rehab anecdote John Mulaney shared during his appearance on the latest episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman.

Mulaney made his relapse and rehab experience a focal point of his last special, Baby J. He also shared some new stories on Letterman’s Netflix show, including an impactful line from a doctor that convinced him not to leave the facility (“John, we both know how this movie ends.”) Asked if he’d thought during his recovery of his fellow SNL alum John Belushi, who died from an overdose, Mulaney said, “Not actively, but after that big intervention and everything blew up, I was in my room in rehab and I talked to Lorne Michaels on the phone for like an hour one day.” Michaels offered his time for chit-chat (“he went on about how Peacock wasn’t launching well on Samsung devices”), but he also had his own impactful wisdom to share.

“[Earlier] in the call we’re talking, and he goes, ‘I knew John Belushi for seven years. I’ve been talking about him for 48 years,’” Mulaney recalled. “He goes, ‘That’s the shrapnel that happens when someone goes down like that.’ And he goes, ‘You know, John didn’t want to die. He didn’t plan to. Just because it’s a story, just because it’s set in stone like history, people don’t want to die from this.’”

This is not the first time Michaels has taken a personal interest in the recovery of an employee; he was reportedly involved in sending Pete Davidson to rehab at least one of the times the young stand-up went. Davidson said in 2021 that he owes Michaels his career. “That guy never looked at me differently, never treated me differently, was always very understanding, never made me feel like my job was in jeopardy or that he was mad,” Davidson shared in an interview with Gold Derby (via Business Insider). “I definitely think he was concerned. There was a lot of concerning moments and a lot of serious conversations that needed to be had, but it was always from a loving place.”

As for Mulaney, he said, “Thinking about the shrapnel you leave behind if you go down that way,” as Michaels put it, did leave a lasting impression on him during his recovery.