Last year, it seemed that people were coming out of the woodwork from all corners of the internet—especially Tiktok—and united in one common sentiment: they were seriously mad at Olivia Munn. But, when you dive into it, it’s not just the John Mulaney thing…it goes a lot deeper than that.
1. This Distraction’s Destructive
Olivia Munn came onto the scene as a correspondent for The Daily Show before making a splash with parts in The Newsroom and Magic Mike. However, with her sultry good looks, gravelly voice, and general “cool girl” vibe, the attention soon turned from her career to her love life.
2. The Girl’s Got A Type
Since her early days on Attack of the Show, Munn has traded on her perceived image as a hot-yet-nerdy type—but her love life hasn’t fully reflected this, as it’s absolutely stacked with relationships with handsome superstar types like Chris Pine and Aaron Rodgers. However, one of these flings was much more controversial than others…
Wikimedia Commons, Gage Skidmore
3. Timing Is Everything
It’s rumored that Munn had a romance with none other than megastar Justin Timberlake, and the timing was, to say the least, questionable. So, it’s alleged that the pair hooked up in 2010—that’s exactly three years after he started dating Jessica Biel. Sources says that the moment Timberlake met Munn, he started chasing. But did he catch her?
4. Playing With Fire
In 2010, Us Weekly claimed that Timberlake and Munn had exchanged numbers and started texting—but that’s not all. He’d also told multiple people around that time that him and Biel were done. Hmm, did anyone tell her? According to some, Munn texted back and forth with Timberlake but ultimately shot him down, believing that he was still with Biel.
However, not everyone agrees with that sequence of events…
5. What Happens In The Gansevoort…
Others claimed that the two had a steamy night—or three—alone together in Munn’s NYC hotel room that autumn. While it didn’t really pan out and Timberlake clearly went back to Jessica Biel, the two stayed friends and have occasionally texted in the years since their rumored hookup. But did the flame really get put out that one night, or did it keep burning…
6. I’ve Heard Of Cold Feet, But This Is Ice Cold
Justin Timberlake’s relationship with Jessica Biel has definitely had its highs and lows, but they made it to the altar in 2014. However, sources claimed that Timberlake got a bit jittery before his nuptials and started texting Munn again—and what he said was seriously brutal. Apparently, she showed texts to her friends from Timberlake that said things like “My relationship is basically over.” Basically isn’t actually, Justin.
Munn was too shrewd to fall for his claims—but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t ended up in some toxic relationships of her own.
7. One Plus One Equals A-List
Before the Mulaney thing, Munn’s most high-profile relationship was with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers—and it definitely had its fair share of ups and downs, most of which played out in the public eye. It was all a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Neither was really that famous on their own, but put the two together, and the tabloids went wild.
And guess who wound up paying the price?
8. Living Under The Microscope
The immediate storm of attention put a huge strain on both Munn and Rodgers, as well as their relationship. Rodgers in particular found that he was out of his element, as he was used to leading a relatively private existence. Munn had a bit more experience in the “public relationship” realm and helped him through it—but the pressure was still a lot to deal with.
9. Will They Or Won’t They
What happens after a couple of famous folks start dating? News outlets start speculating about when they’ll get engaged, of course. And that’s exactly what happened to Munn and Rodgers, shortly after they got together. When OK! dropped news of a potential engagement, Munn’s mother had to call her to ask if the story was true.
But in the end, rumors about tying the knot were the least of their problems.
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10. Red Flags Aren’t Just For The Field
So, “Why don’t people seem to like Olivia Munn?” Here’s one concrete answer to that question. During the course of their relationship, football fans seemed to peg the Packers wins and losses—particularly, the losses—on Munn and Rodger’s relationship. It’s a fate that has befallen many an athlete’s partner, but the pair did their best to ignore the undue scrutiny.
The next story that broke about them wasn’t as easy to shake, though.
11. Running Interception
See, while Aaron Rodgers found the fame that came from his relationship with Olivia Munn hard to deal with, the same can’t be said for his brother, Jordan Rodgers. Jordan was a contest—and winner—on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, and the pair have been together ever since. And it was on that very show that Jordan dropped a bombshell about his brother.
12. Now That’s Some Dirty Laundry
On the hometown episode of that Bachelorette season, Jordan mentioned that Aaron wouldn’t be there when he brought JoJo home, and that he doesn’t really speak to him. He implied that while the rest of the family is close, Aaron has kept his distance from them. And considering this aired in 2016, two years into Aaron’s relationship with Olivia Munn, people were quick to point fingers.
13. Iced Out
Immediately, people began to speculate that Rodgers wasn’t close to his family and that Munn had somehow driven a wedge between them. A Bleacher Report feature on Rodgers fanned the flames even more when they dove into his family history. They reported that he’d been estranged from them since 2014—the year he started dating Munn.
And they didn’t hold back the dirty details, either.
14. Retun To Sender
According to sources, Rodgers’ family didn’t even have his cell number. In Christmas 2014, Rodgers’ parents tried to mend the gap by sending him and Munn Christmas presents. Their reaction was unforgettably brutal. Apparently, they sent them right back. On top of that, the report said that his family wasn’t welcome in Green Bay, and that Aaron had even skipped his father’s funeral.
Yikes. But could this really all be blamed on Munn, or what?
15. The Lines Were Drawn
Well, I’ll be honest. If my parents acted toward my partner the way that Rodgers’ allegedly had toward Munn, I’d be angry too. Sources say that after he got together with Munn, his family told him not to trust her and that they thought she was with him for the wrong reasons (sound familiar, Bachelorette fans?). Rodgers was apparently furious with their position on it, and decided to stand by Munn.
But could the entire family drama have come from just this one incident?
16. The Puppetmaster
In later interviews, Rodgers attributed at least part of the rift between him and his family on his move away from his Christian upbringing—but back in 2017, basically every headline about Rodgers or Munn implied that she was the one behind it all. The stories implied that she was controlling and that she was the one keeping him away from his family.
Rodgers mostly stayed silent on the issue, as did Munn—but then, the story blew up even more.
17. Whodunnit?
In 2017, news outlets were once again speculating that Munn and Rodgers were engaged—but then, seemingly out of the blue, the couple of three years split up. Immediately, people began to whisper that Munn’s alleged controlling behavior and her role in his family drama was to blame, but the pair remained mum on the subject.
Eventually, though, someone had to break the silence…
18. The Naked Truth
While the narrative that spread was one of Munn controlling Rodgers, one post-breakup podcast interview seemed to turn that whole story upside down. While appearing on an episode of Naked With Catt Sadler, Munn opened up about a former relationship that slowly devolved over time. She implied that it happened over the course of years, which made everyone think she was talking about Rodgers—and the revelations were bombshells.
19. A Sinking Ship
Munn talked about being in a long romance where she thought she was happy…until, as she said, the “boat capsized” and she realized that over time, the relationship had come to make her feel worthless. But she didn’t just talk about feelings—she also had some concrete examples of incidents that were huge red flags.
20. Missed Opportunities
Munn said that the partner in question had wanted her to prioritize the relationship over her career, and had encouraged her to turn down two huge projects—a film in Australia and a Broadway show. She even referred to the relationship as emotionally abusive. When it ended, she was left with a mountain of regrets, both romantically and professionally.
So, why did everyone think that she was talking about Rodgers?
21. Mystery Solved
While Munn didn’t name the ex in question who asked her to put him first and her career second, many put the details from the interview together and could only speculate that she was talking about Rodgers—but that’s not all. During a 2015 interview with Conan O’Brien, Munn talked about making “concessions” in her work in order to make the relationship with Rodgers work.
It’s all fitting together now! But when you dive a bit deeper, it still doesn’t fully explain why Munn seems to make people bristle so much.
22. Pointing The Finger
The whole Aaron Rodgers saga was a sad one. Ultimately, all the criticism and scrutiny surrounding Munn seemed to have a lot more to do with misogynist assumptions about her role in Rodgers’ life than anything else. People were way too quick to jump on her during that period—just as they’re doing now, with John Mulaney.
But other people would say they have very good reasons for jumping on Munn—because, according to them, she has something of a misogynistic streak of her own.
23. The Lesser Evil
It’s usually completely understandable when a celebrity goes off on gossip mags and sites. After all, they’re the source of so much judgement and vitriol. But when Olivia Munn wrote an essay about her life as a celeb that specifically targeted the beloved red carpet critique site Go Fug Yourself, people were mostly just confused. While the blog does take jabs at celebrity outfits, it’s mostly in good fun.
Fans and friends of GFY shot back at Munn, pointing out that she was going after a female-run business when plenty of other sites were way meaner and way worse. But it was when people dove into her other writing that things really got fiery.
24. Mask Off
In 2010, Olivia Munn’s book Suck It, Wonder Woman (subtitled “Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek”) came out—and, in a sea of other celebrity memoirs and essay collections, just kind of floated away. But, um, that wasn’t that long ago, and it’s safe to say that if it came out today, it would cause some serious problems for Munn.
If there was thinly-veiled misogyny buried within Munn’s critique of Go Fug Yourself, well, it would make sense. Because in Suck It, Wonder Woman, it’s completely blatant.
25. She’s Not Like Other Girls
So, there are some seriously cringey and downright offensive passages in Olivia Munn’s book—most of which is written in a tone that implies that not only is she the only dork slash “cool girl” (see: the definition from Gone Girl) in showbiz, but that she’s innately superior to basically every other woman in Hollywood.
And it would be one thing if it were a valid critique of the industry, but it’s mostly just non-sequitur digs at the ways other women choose to live their lives. Let’s dive in, shall we…
26. The Irony Of It All
It’s funny that Munn went after a red carpet fashion critique blog, because in her book she says that she thinks sexist behavior is “as nauseating as mom jeans.” Speaking of shaming others for their appearance, Munn compares the mysteries of dating to the puzzle of why “some starlet’s boobs hang so low.” And that’s it. That’s where the comparison ends—a completely unnecessary knock on some imagined “starlet” for the sake of an unfunny one-liner joke.
See, now I’m even starting to understand why people are so mad at Olivia Munn…and it gets so much worse.
27. Do As I Say, Not As I Do
In Suck It, Wonder Woman, Munn claims that if she were to run for president, she would fix the US’s obesity problem by “taking all the motorized transport away from fat people” and building “fat tunnels where all the fat people can walk. This will create jobs and subsequent weight loss.” She also talks about how much she loves pie.
So, “unhealthy” eating is totally fine for someone with her body…but not anybody else. And she just. keeps. going.
28. You’re Telling On Yourself
Munn recalls her first dating experience in high school, fully dropping an R-bomb in reference to a new kid in school. She ends up dating him and expressing her extreme regret upon realizing he has Tourette’s. Gee, I wonder what he thought when he read it. She also has a chapter giving men advise, and in one part she tells them to have a threesome with “two fives,” as it adds up to a ten. Honestly, “yikes” doesn’t quite do it.
So yeah, in the pantheon of reasons why people are mad at Olivia Munn, her extremely cringey book is Up There. And it’s not like she stopped putting her foot in her mouth since then, either.
29. The Tail’s Wagging The Dog
If there’s one thing any dog owner knows, it’s, well, don’t mess with someone’s dog. And somehow, through her business ventures, Olivia Munn got roped into some serious doggy drama. Munn was an early investor in the app Wag!, which connects dog owners with walkers and sitters. So, when one of the aforementioned walkers walked right off with someone’s dog, the owners reached out to Munn—and within minutes, she was on the phone.
30. It’s A Dog-Eat-Dog World
Munn called the New York couple whose dog was missing and helped find a detective to get on the case. Ultimately, they got their dog back, but they decided to sue Wag! for using sketchy walkers and for using Munn’s celeb status to smooth things over. After news of the suit came out, Munn canceled a talk show appearance.
There are PR nightmares you get roped into…and then there are the ones you create yourself.
31. There’s Oversharing And Then There’s This
Olivia Munn is a great podcast guest—not because she’s dropped any mind-blowing insights, but because she always seems to spill some tea when she goes on one. Recently on Whitney Cummings’ Good For You podcast, she talked about an ex who was bad in bed, liked “spooning from behind,” and who insisted on doing the deed with the lights off. Munn then insinuated that he did this because he didn’t actually want to be in bed with a women.
People immediately speculated that she was talking about Aaron Rodgers, especially since she’s repeatedly talked about him since their breakup. Either way, speculating about someone’s preferences is pretty offensive. But let’s be real: when it comes to people getting offended at Olivia Munn, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
32. The Final Straw
It’s time to address the elephant in the room. Sure, there’s her previous relationships and her terrible book. However, there’s one reason and one reason only why a lot of people really seem to be mad at Olivia Munn right now. His name is John Mulaney. However, to fully understand why people are so weirded out by her relationship with this innocuous-seeming comedian, we’re going to need to get into the back story—and boy, is it juicy.
33. The Man Behind A Million Parasocial Relationships
There is one thing to understand about where everything went wrong in this whole saga—and it starts with the fact that people love John Mulaney. Or at least, they used to. He seems mild-mannered with just the right amount of cynicism. It’s like if a 70-year-old man with all the attendant insights and gripes that come with age somehow found himself in the body of a teenaged boy…in a suit.
Over the course of the past decade or so, Mulaney’s comedy specials and other work have garnered a legion of devoted fans. After all, he’s the man who created SNL’s Stefon! But, as always, fame comes with a lot of problems.
34. You Think You Know A Guy
A lot of Mulaney’s stand-up bits involved stories about his wife Annamarie Tendler and their beloved dog Petunia. These glimpses into his personal life made fans feel like they knew him—and her, and Petunia. But that’s not all that he was open about. He also shared that he’d struggled with addiction in the past, and that he stopped drinking and using illicit substances at 23 after a rough wake-up call.
People were used to the Mulaney they knew—married, steady, sober—but they were in for a tragic surprise.
35. Sharing Is Caring—Until It Isn’t
Mulaney had struck up a friendship with SNL’s Pete Davidson and they had both talked about how John was helping Pete with his sobriety. So it was extra shocking in December of 2020 when Mulaney entered a treatment facility for alcoholism and substance misuse. Later, he elaborated that it had actually been his second stint in rehab that year, as he’d also undergone treatment in September of that year and later relapsed.
But the most devastating announcement—at least for some fans—was yet to come.
36. Try A Little Tendlerness
Along with the news about Mulaney’s stint in rehab was the revelation that he and his wife of nearly seven years, Annamarie Tendler, had separated. In those intervening years since Mulaney had become famous, Tendler had won some fans of her own. While some may have got acquainted with her through Mulaney’s stories about her, others undoubtedly fell for her funny, quirky social media presence.
Unfortunately, fans are always going to take sides in a situation like this and look for someone to blame—and in this case, their gaze fell solely upon Olivia Munn.
37. The Relationship Soft Launch
Take it from someone who was there, and who somehow ended up on a strange corner of Tiktok where people speculated wildly about John Mulaney’s life. Long before they announced anything, a lot of people knew that Mulaney and Munn were dating—and they were seriously mad about it. But was this just another case of the type of misogyny that was directed at Munn during her relationship with Aaron Rodgers?
Well, in some cases, yes. But there was way more to it than that.
38. The Theories Emerge
Internet detectives quickly dug up a tweet that Munn had posted in December of 2021, when Mulaney was in rehab, that read, “Sending SO MUCH love and support to John Mulaney. You got this.❤️⚡”. Of course, people took this as evidence that either a. the relationship had started much earlier than they’d said or b. that Munn had been circling Mulaney like a hawk for months, ready to strike at his most vulnerable.
It definitely toed the line between genuine concern and creepiness on the part of the fans—and it wasn’t the last time that questions of timing came up.
39. …And Baby Makes Three
At some point in the summer of 2021, Olivia Munn stopped posting current pictures of herself—which immediately led the people who’d been closely following her romance with John Mulaney to speculate that she was pregnant. Why, again, did this make people so mad? Well, Mulaney had been vocal in his stand-up act about the fact that he and Tendler has agreed they didn’t want children.
And, well, guess what? The internet sleuths were right again. Soon after, they announced that they were expecting a child—and the furor over it all intensified.
40. Establishing A Timeline
In September of 2021, Mulaney appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers and succinctly summed up the year previous, saying “I went to rehab in September, OK? I got out in October, I move out of my home from my ex-wife. Then, in the spring, I went to Los Angeles and met and started to date a wonderful woman named Olivia […] And we're having a baby together."
Happily ever after, right? Well, not so.
Late Night With Seth Meyers, NBC
41. Rushing Into Things
As I mentioned earlier, the line between concern and creepiness has been hard for people to walk when it comes to John Mulaney and Olivia Munn. Many fans were concerned about the fact that Mulaney broke off a marriage and entered a relationship right out of rehab, as making those kinds of huge changes is usually a massive red flag.
Specifically, many experts agree that romantic relationships are a bad idea out of early recovery—let alone a relationship and a baby.
42. She Has Another Type
Still, that’s all Mulaney’s decision to make, right? Well, people have pointed to Munn’s history with men on the rebound as another indication that not all is right with her. Shortly after Chris Pratt’s divorce from Anna Faris, there were rumors that he was hooking up with Munn. However, Munn shot those rumors down and shared a text exchange between her and Faris.
Faris seemed happy with the outcome—but another ex wasn’t such a fan of Munn’s.
43. Blowin’ Smoke
Mulaney isn’t the only one involved in this mess who has an absolutely fervent fanbase. Enter: Kacey Musgraves. Her fans already had their backs up about Olivia Munn. Why? Well, in 2020, Musgraves and husband Ruston Kelly split. Not long after, he was spotted hanging out with Munn, leading people to come to the conclusion that she has a thing for recently divorced men.
On top of that, some mutual social media love in the comments between Musgraves and Tendler had people speculating that the two had bonded over their divorces…or over a common enemy, perhaps?
Shutterstock
44. Back To The Beginning
There’s one driving force behind the speculation over their relationship that we haven’t mentioned yet. That’s the timing of it all. The fact that news of their relationship broke immediately after news of Mulaney’s split had people wondering if Munn and Mulaney had had an affair during his marriage to Tendler. Mulaney’s attempts to build a timeline around his rehab, divorce, and romance with Munn don’t hold up to scrutiny, either.
He said that they met in church in L.A. after his marriage ended, but they were actually both guests at Seth Meyers’ 2013. And that’s not the only problem…
45. Accounting For All The Accountants
Long before Munn came along, there were rumors that trust was a problem in his marriage, and that before he went to rehab he had been going to strip clubs—but that’s not the worst part. There were many stories where he’d allegedly hooked up with dancers or paid for activities that are a lot more scandalous than a private dance.
Man, maybe Munn needs to watch out for the red flags and not vice-versa…
46. She’s Got A Way With Words
Another reason why people might be #TeamTendler? Her announcement about their split was particularly devastating, reading “I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage. I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery.” Around the same time that he went to rehab, she entered a facility for emotional and eating disorders.
Clearly, it was a horrible time for both of them—but people seem to really want to lay it all on Munn’s shoulders. Does she really deserve it?
47. What A Creep
Olivia Munn hasn’t always had such a great time in Hollywood, and her book details some of her worst encounters with the town’s creeps, ranging from unpleasant to downright criminal. In 2017, she was one of six actresses who came together to put forward allegations of harassment and misconduct against director Brett Ratner, revealing that he was one of the men she’d mentioned her book—and the story is seriously disturbing.
48. A Favor Gone Wrong
In 2004, before Munn was a star, she visited a friend who was a PA on the set of one of Ratner's films. When she did her friend a solid and brought Ratner his meal, he cornered her in his trailer and “took care of himself” in front of her. Later, he told people they’d slept together—an allegation that Munn continues to deny.
Sadly, Munn’s experience is all too typical—and also, incredibly damaging.
49. Playing The Blame Game
It was only recently that Munn finally addressed all the commotion over her relationship with Mulaney. Notably, she said, “They think they know our relationship so well. When in reality, they don’t.” She also acknowledged that people seem to be mad at her, saying, “For whatever reason, it’s easier to blame me.” Well…that about sums it up correctly.
50. A Picture’s Worth 1,000 Words
And as for the relationship right now? Well, Munn and Mulaney’s son Malcolm was born in November of 2021, and in January of 2022, they began to debut pictures of him despite rumors that they’d broken up. Most recently, Munn posted a picture of Mulaney cuddling Malcolm on her IG, which seems to send a message that the pair are still together.
Considering how rapidly everything has happened for Munn in the last year, who knows what the next year—let alone the next few weeks—hold.
51. Why Is Everyone So Mad At Olivia Munn?
So, what’s the real reason why people are so mad at Olivia Munn? Well, there’s the Aaron Rodgers family stuff, the book, and Mulaney’s disappointed fans scrutinizing everything she does. But honestly, it just seems like she’s in between a rock and a hard place. No matter what she does, Munn just seems to rub a large contingent of people the wrong way—and her romance with Mulaney is just the latest thing to get them going.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
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