John Mulaney defends wife Olivia Munn over ‘violent’ Gaza threats after Ms Rachel comments

Munn said in an interview with ‘People’ that she doesn’t allow her children to watch Ms Rachel’s YouTube videos

Olivia Munn’s husband, John Mulaney, has spoken out about hateful comments his wife has received after she made comments about popular kids’ YouTuber Ms Rachel.

In a since-deleted interview with People, Munn told the publication that she doesn’t let her children watch the YouTuber’s videos because she finds them annoying.

“I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can't watch it, I’m not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy,” she told the publication. “These kid shows drive me crazy.”

However, the statement quickly led to backlash from fans, who connected Munn’s comments to Ms Rachel’s advocacy for children in Gaza.

Mulaney has since weighed in, posting a statement on his Instagram Story on Wednesday, saying that his wife’s comments were not meant to be taken as a personal attack on the YouTuber. “An innocent comment my wife Olivia Munn made about what children’s programs we like has somehow — unbelievably — been conflated with not caring about the deaths of children in Gaza,” he wrote.

‘My wife and my two kids are now receiving violent and threatening comments and messages in her DMs. This is absolutely insane and needs to stop,’ Mulaney wrote (AFP via Getty Images)

“Because of this, my wife and my two kids are now receiving violent and threatening comments and messages in her DMs. This is absolutely insane and needs to stop. The people doing this are so wildly out of line and so unhelpful to any conversation. You took a nothing comment to a dark and dangerous place. This kind of behavior isn’t activism.”

The YouTuber herself (real name Rachel Griffin Accurso) also posted on Instagram, telling people to “be kind” to Munn. “Please be kind to Olivia & her precious family!” she wrote on Thursday. “I don’t believe in hate, attacks, or hurtful comments. As I said in my first post, this isn’t about her. It was that I scroll & see stories that don’t matter while seeing that children’s immeasurable suffering is being ignored — it breaks me.”

“Also I know some outlets would love to cover a feud between two women, but guess what? That doesn’t exist,” she added. “Her and I have been in touch and we are both choosing kindness.”

Ms Rachel has been outspoken about the current conflict in Gaza since May 2024, when she announced she would be raising money on Cameo, the personalized video messaging app, for Save the Children’s emergency fund for children in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan.

A couple of days later, she followed up with a written message, declaring that “Children should never experience the horrors of war — nor be killed, injured or taken hostage.”