Comedian John Mulaney has officially had a fight with three teenage boys on the final of his live Netflix talk show after weeks of teasing.
At the end of April, Mulaney suggested that he was going to fight a group of boys on Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney in response to the viral question about whether “100 men could beat one gorilla” in a fight.
At the time, the 42-year-old said: “It has prompted a debate in our writers’ room about whether three 14-year-old boys could beat me up.”
“Is this legal?”, he jokingly asked. “So far, we think so. It’s not assault, we know that. And we’re vetting every step of it. I’ve been led to believe that if it’s for TV, it’s a lawful practice.”
Mulaney said that the fight was going to take place on the season one finale of his show but it remained to be seen whether he was actually going to go through with the contest.
In his opening monologue of the latest episode, Mulaney said: “I will fight three 14-year-olds in a fight to the death, reputationally speaking. We’ve been hyping this fight all month and the response to all of this hype has been overwhelming.”
The episode itself was dubbed “What is on the mind of teens?” and featured guests Adam Sandler, Sean Penn and comedian Joe Mande, who all recounted stories of their own teenage years. Punk band Sleater-Kinney, featuring comedian and actor Fred Armisen on drums, were the first musical guests, performing a cover of Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America”.
When it came to the actual fight, which took place in a wrestling ring and was officiated by a referee, it proved to be a very one-sided affair. The teenage boys, who were dubbed “Three Truant Teens” and all wore suits and protective head gear, overwhelmed Mulaney by grabbing him by the waist and persistently trying to sweep his legs.
Once the boys wrestled Mulaney to the ground, they all piled on top of him, with one of the trio also placing him in a headlock. Within seconds of being grounded Mulaney had no choice but to submit – thus awarding the contest to the teenagers.
DIVA DOWN @mulaney #EverybodysLive pic.twitter.com/ociVlTr9Ig
— Netflix (@netflix) May 29, 2025
The show closed out with a performance from hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and a rendition of their song “Tha Crossroads” while awarding a championship belt to the teenage boys.
In April, Mulaney revealed that he was nearly scammed by a fake manager while trying to book the group. ““After a little investigating, I have come to believe that the man I was talking to was not the manager of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. In fact, several sites list a different person,” he said. “I’m concerned now that I never had any direct contact with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.”
In January, Deadline reported that Mulaney’s show was expected to be renewed for a second season although no release date had been confirmed.
