A native of Mississauga, Bullard worked briefly as a police officer with Peel Regional Police in his youth but resigned when he was not permitted to moonlight in comedy clubs. He then returned to Bell Canada where he had worked previously, and eventually was promoted to associate director of corporate investigation while also working part-time as a stand-up comic.
Television
His stand-up career led him to becoming the host of Open Mike with Mike Bullard in 1997. The late-night talk variety show, considered the first successful Canadian attempt at the genre, aired nightly for six seasons on The Comedy Network and the CTV Television Network and won a Gemini Award. At its peak, Open Mike had higher Canadian ratings than The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman. After leaving CTV when his contract expired in 2003, Bullard accused executives at his old network of not supporting the show and of being "dysfunctional", resulting in countercharges of "bitterness" against Bullard who was described as having "burned his bridges" with CTV and the Comedy Network. In 2003, Bullard was hired away by Global with a multi-year deal to host The Mike Bullard Show in the same timeslot, with much of the same staff and sketches as Open Mike. However, the new show was cancelled on March 12, 2004 after 13 weeks due to poor ratings against The Daily Show with Jon Stewart which CTV aired against Bullard's new show.
Radio
Following his show's cancellation, Bullard resumed his career as a stand-up comic playing in comedy clubs such as Yuk Yuk's, released a comedy CD, did commercials for a weight loss clinic, and made a cameo appearance at the Gemini Awards taking part in a skit in which he played a corpse protesting "I'm not dead yet!" while paramedics removed him from the stage. In October 2006, Bullard launched an uncensored morning satellite radio show on XM Canada's Laugh Attack channel; the program was cancelled after five months. Bullard returned to TV to host HouseCapades, a real estate series depicting the lighter side of selling one's home, in 2006. In August 2009, Bullard became the host of The Mike Bullard Show on Talk820 Radio in Hamilton, Ontario, however his evening drive show was cancelled when CHAM switched to a country music format in July 2010. From 2010 to 2016, Bullard hosted Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard weekdays at noon on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto. He returned to broadcasting in October 2018 on Sauga 960 AM in Mississauga as host with Lawrence Morganstern of the afternoon drive time show, The Getaway. The show ceased production in late January 2019. In 2019, Bullard launched a podcast, You Too with Mike Bullard.
Legal issues
Bell Media, which owns CFRB, severed ties with Bullard on October 5, 2016 after he was charged with criminal harassment of his ex-girlfriend, Cynthia Mulligan. In 2017 and 2018 he was charged with several counts of allegedly breaching bail conditions and additional charges of obstructing justice for allegedly trying to get Mulligan to have the initial charges dropped. On June 8, 2018, Bullard pleaded guilty to one count of harassing communication for making harassing phone calls to Mulligan and two counts of violating his bail conditions by contacting her through a third party. He was given a conditional discharge, put on six months of probation and was required to attend a domestic violence program. His criminal harassment and obstruction of justice charges had been dropped earlier in the month after the judge ruled there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. Bullard launched a legal action for defamation in August 2018 against Chatelaine magazine, one of its writers, and its publisher, Rogers Media, asking for $6 million in damages after it published an interview with Cynthia Mulligan. The suit alleges the article incorrectly claimed that Bullard had been found guilty of "stalking / criminal harassment" and had resulted in Bullard being subjected “to ridicule, hatred, and contempt” and caused damage to his professional and personal reputations by implying that he is “unfit for employment and/or intimate relationships.” On May 20, 2020, Bullard's lawsuit was dismissed by the court following a motion by the defence that the lawsuit violated Ontario's anti-SLAPP legislation. Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael McKelvey ruled: “What is clear in this case is that the damage to Mr. Bullard’s career and reputation occurred well prior to and independent of the publication of the Chatelaine article. What is also clear is that the comments of his victim are views one could honestly hold based on the proven facts, and form part of a public dialogue on a matter of significant public interest.”
