Olivia Munn’s Proposal Lie: How a Hilarious Deception Led to a Heartfelt Confession
To protect a surprise proposal, Olivia Munn spun a heartfelt lie involving her best friend — and learned that even the sweetest secrets can come with a guilty conscience.
To keep John Mulaney’s surprise proposal under wraps, Olivia Munn spun an elaborate tale — and learned the emotional weight of a well-intentioned lie.
When it comes to love stories, few are as endearing — or as comically elaborate — as Olivia Munn and John Mulaney’s. The actress recently revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that ahead of Mulaney’s proposal, she concocted an intricate lie to hide the fact that she already knew it was coming. What began as a cover story quickly turned into a full-blown ruse involving her childhood best friend, a fabricated marital crisis, and a surprising amount of guilt.
It all started when Munn received a cryptic text from her best friend Corinne, whom she’s known since the age of 13. “She texted me and said, ‘Hey, are you alone?’” Munn recalled. “Immediately, I turned to John and said, ‘Oh my God. Corinne just asked if I’m alone. She wants to tell me something really interesting. I’m gonna go call her.’”
Munn didn’t realize she had already blown Corinne’s cover by telling Mulaney she wanted a private conversation. That conversation, it turns out, was about the comedian’s plan to propose.
Panic set in, and Munn quickly realized she needed a believable reason to justify the secret call. So she told Mulaney that Corinne was going through serious marital problems — despite the fact that Mulaney had just seen the couple and thought they were doing great. Undeterred, Munn doubled down on the tale, insisting the couple hadn’t been intimate in six months.
The ruse appeared to work. Mulaney didn’t suspect a thing and went on to propose, and the couple officially tied the knot in July 2024 after dating since 2021.
But the deception didn’t end there. After the engagement, Mulaney confessed, “Hey, I want you to know, I know that whole thing about Corinne and her sex life and all that was a lie.” Munn, caught off guard, tried to maintain the story: “I go, ‘No, no, no, it is true.’ This is how I’m starting off my marriage.”
Soon, the guilt became too much to bear. Munn broke down and called both Corinne and Mulaney to come clean. “I’m just so horrible, and I’m so sorry,” she told them.
Despite the white lie, the couple has gone from strength to strength. They welcomed their daughter Méi June via surrogate in September 2024, joining big brother Malcolm Hiệp, born in November 2021.
Munn’s humorous and heartfelt story is not just a testament to love, but to the quirky, human moments that often define the most important milestones. And while the actress jokes about understanding how some people confess to crimes years after the fact, it’s clear that honesty — eventually — is what keeps the foundation of her relationship strong.
