“Home Alone” actor Macaulay Culkin says he’s been estranged from his father for three decades.
The 44-year-old former child star discussed some of the details during a recent episode of Kate Hudson’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast. He was asked why he quit acting, which led to him talking about his father, Christopher “Kit” Culkin, who was also an actor.
“I was tired, man,” Culkin said. “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 actor 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,’” he continued, saying that’s when he took “ownership” of himself.
The “Richie Rich” actor said his relationship with his father was not good at that point. He spoke of his father being jealous of his success.
“During the whole custody thing, I wanted nothing to do with my f***ing father,” he told Hudson. “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.”
When asked about his relationship with his dad now, Culkin said, “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.”
He added, “As a man myself, I would know that I f***ed 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.”
“Me and him were always butting heads; he was a bad man,” Culkin said, referencing alleged physical and verbal abuse he endured. “He was a son of a bitch; he was bad to his kids, he was bad to his wife, he was the worst person I’ve ever known in my entire life,” Culkin concluded. “It super sucks, but I wouldn’t be the man, I wouldn’t be the father I am today if it wasn’t for my experience. At the end of the day, I was like: ‘I’m gonna win,’ and here I am.”
