Macaulay Culkin Responds to Michael Jackson Sexual Abuse Rumors
Macaulay Culkin set the record straight on those Michael Jackson sexual abuse rumors.
The Home Alone star opened up about the music legend in a new cover story with Esquire, in which he defends his late friend in the wake of the Leaving Neverland documentary. The two became friends when Culkin was 10 and Jackson was 32, and for years, many wondered if the actor was one of the singer's alleged victims.
"Look. I’m gonna begin with the line — it’s not a line, it’s the truth: He never did anything to me. I never saw him do anything. And especially at this flashpoint in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back," Culkin told the magazine, referring to the ongoing movements against sexual harassment and sexual assault.
"The guy has passed on. If anything — I’m not gonna say it would be stylish or anything like that, but right now is a good time to speak up," he continued. "And if I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it."
"But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything," he confirmed.
The 39-year-old then went on to tell a "good Michael Jackson" story and recalled the time he ran into fellow actor James Franco on a plane after the Leaving Neverland documentary came out.
"I’d bumped into him two or three times over the years," Culkin explained, "And it was right after the Leaving Neverland documentary came out, and he goes, ‘So, that documentary!’ And that was all he said. I was like, ‘Uh-huh.’ Silence. So then he goes, 'So what do you think?’ And I turned to him and I go, ‘Do you wanna talk about your dead friend?’ And he sheepishly went, ‘No, I don’t.’ So I said, ‘Cool, man, it was nice to see you.'"
This isn't the first time Culkin has defended Jackson. Last year, he commented on the pair's 22 year age difference and why it wasn't "weird" because they were "legitimate" friends.
"At the end of the day, we were friends — in the most simple [way]. It’s one of my friendships that people question, only because of the fact that he was the most famous person in the world,” Culkin said during an appearance on the Inside of You podcast. "For me, it’s so normal and mundane. I know it’s a big deal to everybody else, but it was a normal friendship."