#John Mulaney’s odd ‘Late Night’ clip before rehab sparked worry

Fears for comic John Mulaney’s sobriety and mental health began after he made a bizarre appearance on Seth Meyers’ show, wearing dark glasses and calling Prince Harry a “dumb ginger” and Meghan Markle a “silly goose.”

In the “Late Night” clip, posted to YouTube on November 24, Mulaney — who Page Six exclusively revealed has checked into rehab for cocaine and alcohol addiction — hosts a fake “Royal Watch: News from the Real-Life ‘Crown’” segment and jokes that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were annoyed by COVID because it took all the media attention away from their Megxit “stunt.”

Mulaney — wearing a rumpled, oversized coat and sunglasses, both gifts from Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, who performed on the “Saturday Night Live” Mulaney hosted in October — said Harry was “the real dunce of this fairytale … You dumb ginger, don’t leave your title just because you don’t like your 94-year-old grandma.”

“That’s the definition of something you wait out, gangsta. I am pretty sure father time is going to sort out the case of the very old bummer woman who had 30 months to live,” Mulaney said before adding, “Ahh, too mean.”

After Meyers brings up the death of Princess Diana, Mulaney — who eventually took off his sunglasses to reveal dark, bleary eyes — said of Meghan, “You know it’s weird, right, that Meghan and Harry left?

“You thought rolling with those dorks in church clothes would be fun? Had you been told it was non-stop laughs? Because you’re thinking of ‘The Munsters,’ you silly goose.”

The 38-year-old continued, “Just the fact that she wanted to leave the royal family because they were like ‘be proper and sit still’ … So don’t marry into the family with the most jive-ass boring people ever and then be like, ‘Oh, shall we play Never Have I Ever?”

Mulaney also adds of himself, “Indeed, I am simple and difficult,” before Meyers is forced to describe to him how Google News’ algorithm works.

At the end of Mulaney’s rambling speech, punctuated by long pauses, Meyers — who had earlier asked him to “start again” and inexplicably asks him to spell the word “sheriff” — said, “I love having you on here, but in the future, if you just want to talk things like this out, a phone call might be better … We will see what of this we can use, but it might be online only.”

Mulaney adds, “The next ‘Royal Watch’ will be a little more focused … Thank you Seth, and as a student reporter once wrote of me, ‘Thank you for the laughs, albeit virtual.’”

One viewer on Twitter said of the clip after Page Six revealed Mulaney had gone to a Pennsylvania rehab for 60 days, “If you’ve watched @sethmeyers lately you had to know something was up.”

Another wrote, “Three weeks ago I felt there was something seriously *off* with John Mulaney’s appearance on Seth Meyers.”

Yet another commentator wrote, following the news of Mulaney’s stint in rehab, “He just seemed very off in this segment and I was very confused it was odd to watch and see him like that but it makes sense now, unfortunately.”

A source told us that Mulaney was “out of his mind” on substances around the time the segment was recorded and it raised huge concerns about his health. Mulaney’s rep declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Page Six can also exclusively reveal that Mulaney’s close circle of friends in the comedy world, including “SNL” guru Lorne Michaels and Pete Davidson, have been encouraging him to get help.

An “SNL” source told us, “He has a tight inner circle of friends who have been incredibly supportive [by] encouraging him to get help and [staying] super tight-lipped. 

“To everyone else, it wasn’t as clear he was struggling, but he’s been a rock to so many other people that everyone knows that he should get the help he needs.

“Pete and Lorne have been incredibly helpful,” the source says, “Mulaney is like an older brother to Pete and they always tour together.”