2021 was an undeniably difficult year for John Mulaney’s ex, Anna Marie Tendler, and just weeks after he and Olivia Munn shared the first photos of their newborn son, Malcom, on social media, Tendler opened up about leaving the year behind. Taking to Instagram to share her own life updates, the 36-year-old artist revealed that despite the happenings of the past year, she’s ready to move through grief and greet 2022 with open arms.
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On New Year’s Eve, Tendler posted a true to form artistic photo of herself sitting at opposite ends of a long table. At one side, she was dressed in a long white dress, lighting a cigarette from a candle. At the other, she dressed in an ornate red gown, seeming to levitate the candle to her counterpart. The 36-year-old captioned the image with a long and thoughtful piece on grief, writing, “melancholia is oft amplified by circumstance and the circumstances of my year have been harsh and punishing.”
Tendler continued, asking, “So how does one digest grief? How do we metabolize trauma, collective and individual? How, precisely, do we sit with, in order to move through?” Back in May, Mulaney made the announcement that he and his ex-wife of 7 years had split as he headed off to rehab, and speaking to old friend, Seth Meyers, he outlined his year saying, “I went to rehab in September, I got out in October, I moved 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. I was nervous when I was about to say the news! Olivia and this baby have helped save me from myself in this early journey out of recovery.”
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However, despite the crushing heartbreak, Tendler concluded her note with writing, “Here’s to all the things we did this year to cope and here’s to all we will do next year to heal,” with her final sentiment, “So long 2021. For better or worse I will carry a piece of you with me forever.”
This was not the first time Tendler has alluded to her lost relationship with Mulaney, and back in December when it was announced that he and his partner Munn had given birth to their first child, the artist posted an image on Instagram in which she glanced into a mirror with the caption “Norman F*****g Rockwell.” The caption alluded to the Lana Del Rey song in which she calls her lover a “goddamn man child,” clearly depicting Tendler’s thoughts on her ex-husband’s new child.
