The comedian realized in that moment that his son was “about to find out in the jungle room at Graceland that everybody dies.”

John Mulaney told his Elvis Presley superfan son that the singer was dead mid-Graceland tour

The comedian realized in that moment that his son was "about to find out in the jungle room at Graceland that everybody dies."

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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March 31, 2026 11:03 a.m. ET

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John Mulaney; Elvis Presley. Credit:

Kayla Oaddams/Getty; Liaison

Graceland turned into the Heartbreak Hotel after John Mulaney had to break some bad news to his Elvis Presley superfan son, Malcolm.

The *John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch* star revealed that he had to inform his 4-year-old son, whom he shares with wife Olivia Munn, that the King of Rock and Roll was dead while they were on a recent tour of Graceland.

“Malcolm, my son, is 4, but he’s a huge Elvis fan,” Mulaney explained on Monday's episode of *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert*. “And I said to him, ‘Do you want to get a tour of Elvis’ house?’ And he was like, ‘Elvis’ house? Awesome.’”

John Mulaney with his son Malcolm.

Olivia Munn/ Instagram

The father-son duo embarked on a private tour of Presley's estate that evening.

“We’re walking through, [the guide] goes, ‘We’re gonna show you some special spots because you’re performing here at Graceland,’” Mulaney remembered. “My son goes, ‘I want to go on the roof.’”

While they weren’t able to visit the roof, the pair were able to visit the singer's famous jungle room. “We’re looking around and Malcolm goes, ‘Dad, can I meet Elvis now?’” Mulaney recalled. “It had never come up while listening to ‘Hound Dog.’ You don’t go, ‘Son, you know this guy’s dead, right?’”

Olivia Munn and John Mulaney.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

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He added, "Then I realized all his grandparents are alive and he’s never had a goldfish. And he doesn’t know… and he’s about to find out in the jungle room at Graceland that everybody dies."

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So Mulaney had to explain to his son why he couldn’t meet his idol. “I said, ‘Elvis is in heaven now.’ And he said, ‘Why?’” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Uh, well, sometimes when people are in their early 40s, and they have a job and schedule a lot like Daddy, and some of the same issues as Daddy, they go to the bathroom and they go to heaven.’”

When a laughing Stephen Colbert acknowledged that there were worse ways to die, Mulaney responded, “Dude, what better life?”

Mulaney previously revealed that Malcolm is such a big fan of the King that his third birthday party was Elvis-themed. “He’s a really big Elvis fan,” Mulaney explained while visiting* **The Tonight Show* in 2024. “I think it started with *Lilo & Stitch*, because they listen to Elvis in that movie.”

But watching Presley's 1968 comeback special was what really sealed the deal. “My son, 2 years old, was riveted,” he said. “More than any *Inside Out, Moana,* anything. Staring at Elvis in a leather suit in the late '60s.”

Watch Mulaney recall informing his son of Presley's death in the clip above.

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