It’s been over three decades since Macaulay Culkin had any contact with his father.
During a recent episode of Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast, the “Home Alone” star opened up about why he walked away from acting at a young age and explained why he hasn’t spoken to his estranged dad, Christopher “Kit” Culkin, in over 30 years.
“Why’d you quit [acting]?” Oliver asked.
MACAULAY CULKIN CLAIMS FATHER WAS ‘MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY’ ABUSIVE: ‘DO GOOD OR I’LL HIT YOU’
“I was tired,” the former child star, 44, responded. “I remember talking to my father and I said, ‘I’m getting tired. I think I need a break.'”
But, with his father’s constant pushing, he “felt trapped,” said Macaulay.
It wasn’t until his parents split that Macaulay felt he could step away from acting.
“I haven’t spoken to him in about 30-something years,” he said. “Oh, he deserves it too. Yeah. He’s a man who, he had seven kids, and now he has four grandkids. Yeah. And, none of them want anything to do with him.”
Macaulay, who shares sons, Dakota, 3, and Carson, 2, with his fiancée, Brenda Song, is one of seven siblings, including brother Kieran Culkin. His mom, Patricia Brentrup, separated from his father when Macaulay was a teenager.
Recalling the tense custody battle his parents went through at the time, the actor described his dad as “narcissistic.”
“I wanted nothing to do with my f—ing father. Like, he was just the worst.”
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Macaulay recalled challenging the judge who had ordered him to “do visits” with Kit at the time.
“I told my lawyer, I said, ‘Yeah, I’m not doing that.’ He said, ‘Well, you know, you’ll be in contempt of court and this and that.’ I go, ‘OK. Well, how about this? I dare the judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my] abusive father. I actually, I’m gonna double down on that. I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world,'” Macaulay said.
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Now, as a dad, Macaulay said he often uses his past as motivation in how he parents his two boys.
“It’s one of my earliest memories of him was [thinking] when I grew up, this is how I’m not gonna be with my kids,” he said.
“Now that I have kids of my own, it’s like, you know, it kicks up some dust,” he added. “I kinda go, you know, like, I can’t believe he was like that. He had all these lovely kids. It’s crazy.”
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As for his life today, Macaulay said he’s “in a really great place,” adding, “I feel really good. I’m probably in the best place of my entire life.”
This isn’t the first time Macaulay has spoken about his estrangement from his dad.
In 2018, the actor claimed Kit was “mentally and physically” abusive, and made threats including, “Do good or I’ll hit you.”
“He was a bad man. He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to,” Macaulay alleged at the time. “Everything he tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old.”
Culkin’s parents divorced after he filmed “Richie Rich” in 1994. He called their split “one of the best things that’s ever happened” because it led to him leaving the industry.
“I even wanted to take a break for a while, and eventually I was like, ‘I’m done guys. Hope you all made your money because there is no more coming from me,’” Culkin said.
He famously sued his parents over his $17 million earnings in a custody dispute when he was 15 years old. He had their names removed as his legal guardians so they could no longer control his fortune.
