Olivia Munn joined several other iconic women powerhouses — including actors, activists, and leaders across industries — at the TIME Women of the Year Gala in Los Angeles on Feb. 25. When it was Munn’s turn to give a speech, the breast cancer survivor shared a funny story about her chaotic home life — and inspired us to appreciate every day!
The Hit-Monkey star, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and has had several treatments and surgeries since including a double mastectomy, toasted to “good health” and healthy days” at the gala, per TIME.
In the speech, the Newsroom alum shared that in the first month of her daughter Méi’s life, she “had a lot of discomfort and stomach problems and hives and sleepless nights. Nonstop crying. Just, you name it, she had it.”
“She’s just the sweetest girl, and she was struggling to be comfortable in this world,” Munn continued about her daughter, who was born via surrogate. “And I was struggling as her mother.” But one day, Munn trusted her “mother’s intuition” and switched up her baby’s formula, which helped ease her stomach pain and hives “by that very first night.”
“So, that was one of my most proud moments as a mother, ever,” Munn gushed. Aww!
Later, Munn recalled a story of holding her 5-month-old daughter Méi a few days earlier, whose “thighs are like brioche buns that could feed a family of seven.” What a sweet chunk-a-monk! As she was feeding Méi a bottle, “and she just sighed this perfect little baby sigh, and her belly was soft, and she was smiling. She was healthy,” Munn said. She also noticed that she was feeling good that day too, despite still going through cancer treatment.
“On that Friday, my joints didn’t ache, and I wasn’t too hot or too cold from going into a surgical menopause, and my brain fog had cleared, at least for that day anyway,” Munn said. A few feet away, her mother was watching YouTube “on full volume,” her stepfather was in the kitchen “pouring Borax on every window sill in the house” to stop an ant infestation, and her husband John Mulaney walked inside to get some gloves “because a FedEx truck had run over a rat in front of our house.” He wanted to get it cleaned up before their 3-year-old son Malcolm saw it because “this isn’t how I want him to learn about death.”
Mulaney didn’t need to worry, though, because Malcolm “was wearing a space suit that he had completely unzipped and he was peeing off the balcony, yelling ‘Mama, it’s like a fountain!’” (As a mom of three boys, I can totally relate to this!)
“As I held my daughter, I was so grateful that I was healthy enough to see every minute of it all,” she continued. “Each day brings its own problems, and my hope is that you’ll all be healthy enough to enjoy them.”
Earlier this month, Munn opened up about her cancer diagnosis in an interview with TIME. “I look at videos of me laughing with my son, running around in the park, feeling and looking healthy — all the while having this really aggressive, fast-moving cancer spreading through my breasts,” she recalled. This encouraged her to spread awareness about getting tested early for breast cancer to help save lives.
“I thought, ‘Man, there’s so many women out there just like me,’” Munn added. “They might have no idea. And it may be too late by the time they find out.”
Before you go, check out how these celebrity parentscelebrate AAPI heritage and culture with their kids.
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