- Macaulay Culkin was managed by his father during childhood
- Culkin has revealed he sometimes wasn’t allowed to sleep in a bed
- Home Alone star says he hasn’t spoken to his father in 30 years
Macaulay Culkin has once again opened up about his relationship with his father, during a recent podcast appearance.
Culkin, 44, has shared several traumatic stories about the abuse he suffered from his father, Kit, on multiple occasions over the years. And he has now divulged further into his childhood experiences, on an episode of Sibling Revelry.
During the podcast, hosted by brother and sister duo Kate and Oliver Hudson, Culkin explained how he hadn’t seen or spoken to his father in over 30 years.
“Oh, I’m stuck”
Culkin explained how he tried to walk away from Hollywood at the age of 12, having initially found fame at the age of six. “I was tired, man. I was so tired. And the thing is, I remember when I was probably about 11 or 12, I remember talking to my father. And I said: ‘I’m getting tired, I think I need a break,’ and he goes: ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll look into it.’ And the next thing I know, I was in the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. I was like: ‘Oh, I’m stuck. Now, I’m stuck.”
The Uncle Buck star continued, “When I turned 14, my dad and my mom were having a thing, they kind of split up, and I said: ‘Great, I quit, now he’s out of the picture, I quit. I hope you guys had a good time, I hope you guys all made as much money as you possibly could because there’s no more coming from me,’. And that was it. I started taking ownership of myself. Also, I had a certain amount of autonomy. Like ‘do this movie,’ at that point, I go: ‘No, f**k you, what you gonna do?’”
A custody battle between Culkin’s parents eventually presented the child star with the opportunity he so desperately craved to step away from the spotlight, although the custody battle itself presented new problems. Culkin, however, found a way to navigate these issues, even from such an early age.
Macaulay Culkin – The Most Famous Kid in the World
“During the whole custody thing, I wanted nothing to do with my f*****g father. He was just the worst, and the judge was like: ‘Well, you have to do visitations with him.’ I didn’t say this to the judge — I was a smartass, but I wasn’t that much of a smartass — but I told my lawyer: ‘I’m not doing that.’ He’s like: ‘Well, you’ll be in contempt of court,’ I go: ‘OK, how about I dare this judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my] abusive father.
“Actually, I’m going to double down on that; I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world…’ I never played that card, but that was the one time I kind of played that card.”
Culkin went onto explain how he hasn’t seen his father in over three decades. His grandkids also want nothing to do with him, either, according to Culkin.
“I haven’t spoken to him in what would be about 30-something years. Oh, he deserves it, too. He’s a man who had seven kids, and he has four grandkids, and none of them want anything to do with him. As a man myself, I would know that I f****d up, I really must have done something wrong… I have more than an inkling that he does not feel that way. Like, we’re wrong, and he’s right — he’s one of those kind of like narcissistic, crazy people.
“He was a bad man”
“Me and him were always butting heads; he was a bad man. I would take his whooping and stuff like that, but the whole time, I was sitting there going: ‘Oh, I’m going to win at the end. I just sit tight, I’ll take the whoopings, but I’m going to outlast him; I’m going to win.’”
The 44-year-old has revealed in previous interviews that his father, who quit his job to become Macaulay’s manager when he became famous, would sometimes not even allow him to sleep in a bed, forcing Culkin onto a couch as a child. Culkin has also revealed how Kit would physically abuse his mother and siblings, during a 2018 appearance on the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, where he said “He was a bad man. He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to.”
Macaulay Culkin shot to prominence in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The 1990 classic Home Alone propelled him to superstardom at the age of 10. The film was last year voted the Greatest Christmas Movie of all Time. Culkin starred in both the original and sequel with his younger brother Kieran, who this year scooped the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It was a victory Macaulay said made him cry.
