Olivia Munn has opened up about why she restricts her children from watching some of the most popular kids' TV shows like Ms. Rachel and Blue's Clues.
Yes, the X-Men actress and mom of two is laying down the law when it comes to what plays on her family’s screen. And spoiler alert: it’s not the usual toddler fare.
“I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can't watch it, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy,” Munn, 44, told PEOPLE in a no-holds-barred interview. “These kid shows drive me crazy.”
Munn - who shares son Malcolm, 3, and daughter Méi, 8 months - with comedian husband John Mulaney, is not here for the animated chaos. When Malcolm asked to watch Blue's Clues, she didn’t just veto it — she went full scorched earth.
“Malcolm asked for Blue's Clues [recently], and I don't know who showed him Blue's Clues, but they are on my s*** list now,” she said. “I said, ‘Hell no. Not in my house.’”
And don’t even try her with Spider-Man cartoons either. “John got him into the Spider-Man cartoons, which is not interesting to me,” Munn confessed. “I put on Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Homecoming and was like, ‘If you want to watch the real-life ones, then we can watch that.’ It might be a little too old for him, but I can't take the cartoons.”
There’s only one show that has made it past Munn’s ultra-strict mom filter: Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
She called the PBS series a “great program” and even credited it with helping Malcolm prepare for big brotherhood before Méi’s arrival last fall.
Two Babies, Not One Big Brother
When introducing baby Méi to Malcolm, Munn and Mulaney made a deliberate choice to avoid the classic “you’re the big brother now” messaging.
“A lot of times people will be like, 'Oh, you're a big brother now. You're not the baby anymore. Now you can help mommy get the diapers,'” Munn explained. “So, all of a sudden, he has all these responsibilities, and he doesn't just get to be carefree anymore.”
Instead, they reframed the family dynamic: “Now we have two babies. There's baby Méi Méi and baby Malcolm.”
Munn and Mulaney didn’t just say the right things — they followed through. “He would say, ‘Mommy, come over here. Daddy, come over here,’ and if we were holding the baby, we would put her down so that he wouldn't feel that all of a sudden now we can't be there for him,” Munn shared.
“It’s not that we were trying to teach him that everything he says goes, but we wanted him to have the transition with her to know that we're still here whenever he needs us. Then, eventually when he'd say, 'Put Méi Méi down,' we'd say, 'No, she wants to see her mommy too.' He smiles, and he understands.”
Turns out, baby Méi is already her brother’s biggest fan.
“Anywhere he goes, she lights up,” Munn said. “He's teaching her how to talk. We have this great video of him telling her to say dada, and she says dada right back."
Munn’s New Perspective
The past few years haven’t been easy for Munn. Between postpartum anxiety after Malcolm's birth and her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023, she’s had more than her fair share of emotional weight. But now, she’s found a way to laugh through the chaos.
“Everything is funny and light and airy to me now, like 95 percent of the time, because it was so much to handle back-to-back,” she said.
And toddler honesty? It keeps her on her toes. “Malcolm said, ‘Mama, I love you a little bit. But you love me so much.’ I said, ‘Yeah that's true.’ He goes, ‘But I only love you a little bit.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ And he goes, ‘But do you still love me so much?’ I go, ‘I'll always love you so much, no matter how much you love me.’”
Ms. Rachel Takes A Stand
In other news, the beloved Ms. Rachel - real name Rachel Griffin Accurso - has recently become an outspoken and unwavering advocate for children currently suffering in Gaza.
As reported by WBUR, the children's TV presenter has stated that she'll put her career on the line if it means speaking out on behalf of children who are fighting to survive in the area amid military assault.
“I wouldn’t be Ms Rachel if I didn’t deeply care about all kids. And I would risk everything, and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for them. It’s all about the kids for me,” she told WBUR.