John Mulaney Hilariously Recalls Nearly Being Scammed by Fake Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Manager

It sure sounds like John Mulaney got scammed by someone pretending to be the manager of revered “Tha Crossroads” hitmakers Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Mulaney put 10 minutes of a recent Everybody’s Live episode on Netflix toward breaking down the apparent scammery, resulting in yet another highlight from the comedian’s live talk show.

“Before we get to the rest of the show, motherfucker, let me tell you about the week I had,” Mulaney first told the audience, as seen below. “We had something very special planned for you this evening that we had to scrap very recently.”

As Mulaney explained in meticulous and hilarious detail, the idea was a fittingly nonsensical one, and would have indeed been a hit. The would-be bit was slated to begin with the death of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Only Murders in the Building alum Richard Kind’s beloved pet tortoise. To be clear, the actor doesn’t actually have a pet tortoise, though the moment would have been played with a deft sense of seriousness anyway.

From there, Mulaney and company would have theorized on how best to uplift Kind and honor the deceased tortoise, eventually leading to the surprise arrival of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony for an impromptu performance of “Tha Crossroads.”

To get the wheels in motion, Mulaney’s team reached out to a contact they found online who claimed to represent the group. This led to a Zoom with this individual, who said he worked as the group’s manager, followed by several developments that, at least in retrospect, fall squarely in the category of red flags. For one, the purported manager requested $2,800 in cash, the procuring of which proved particularly difficult for Mulaney due to his sobriety.

While Mulaney was ultimately able to get the cash thanks to his wife, Olivia Munn, the purported manager then changed his demands. According to Mulaney, he demanded the entire appearance fee—said to be $15,000—upfront. Mulaney explained that this wasn’t possible, but offered to provide half of the fee. This still didn’t satisfy the individual, who then bumped the amount up significantly to $100,000.

Later, the person claiming to work for Bone Thugs dropped that demand to $75,000, with Mulaney having since had a revelation about his efforts to get the group on his show.

“I’m genuinely worried,” Mulaney said. “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.”

Mulaney closed out his story with an invitation for anyone who actually represents Bone Thugs to please reach out to the show, as well as shared a message directed at the apparent scammer responsible for wasting his time.

“You have nothing,” he said. “I, meanwhile, have $2,800 in cash that I have to return to my wife and then immediately alert my sponsor.”