It’s been an eventful couple of years for John Mulaney.

In the past three years, he’s gone to rehab, gotten a divorce, fallen in love, and had a child.

He and Olivia Munn are very happy together, and while they have been going through a bit of a rough time with Olivia’s cancer recovery, having each other and their son has really kept them going.

In his recent appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, John Mulaney spoke about his battle with addiction and shared how one conversation with Lorne Michaels completely changed his life and made him realize why it was important not to give up on his recovery journey.

John Mulany spoke very candidly about his addiction with David Letterman on the host’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction Netflix show, and that included an emotional story about how Lorne Michaels’ advice helped him not to give up on his fight against addiction.

David Letterman asked him if he ever thought about John Belushi while he was battling his addiction, and the comedian said that it was Lorne Michaels who brought him up and helped put things in perspective for him.

“[Lorne Michaels] 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,'” John Mulaney shared. “And he 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.'”

It was a wake-up call for the comedian, not only because it was a cautionary tale, but because of how Lorne Michaels talked about the way John Belushi’s death impacted him. The idea of the “shrapnel” really cut through the comedian and made it clear to him how much he would hurt the people who love him if he continued down the road of self-destruction.

John Mulaney Gets Real About Rehab And Fatherhood

John Mulaney knows how lucky he is to be on the other side of his battle with addiction, but during his talk with David Letterman, he wanted to make it clear to fans that it wasn’t an easy or pretty process. During his Netflix special, Baby J, he joked a lot about the darkest moments in his life, but his discussion with David Letterman was a lot more honest and less cynical.

He shared, for instance, that he had a really tough time going through detox, and he almost gave up when he cracked his molar because he was grinding his teeth so much while going through withdrawal. He went to a doctor in the rehab facility to tell him he was going back to New York City. The doctor didn’t try to convince him, but told him something that stopped him in his tracks.

“He didn’t argue or anything, he just went, ‘John. We both know how this movie ends.’ And that was it. And I just kind of nodded and went back to my room and stayed,” the comedian recalled.

John Mulaney also spoke about being a father to his son Malcolm and a partner to Olivia Munn. The couple have been together for almost three years, and their son is two. They have faced a lot of challenges, including Olivia’s recent cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery, and he credited her for helping him beat his addiction back when they first announced their relationship.

The comedian never expected to be at this point in his life, and he said he’s doing his best to make sure his son not only feels loved but never doubts that his parents love each other very much.

The full conversation with David Letterman is out on Netflix now.