Macaulay Culkin Dishes on His Friendship With Michael Jackson
Macaulay Culkin’s friendship with Michael Jackson has inspired all sorts of speculation. The release of the documentary Leaving Neverland sparked even more interest in the friendship. Culkin recently opened up about Jackson for Esquire. Here’s what he said.
How Macaulay Culkin views Michael Jackson now
Culkin told Esquire “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 flash point in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back.”
He added “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. And if I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it. But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything.”
When James Franco questioned Macaulay Culkin about Michael Jackson
Reflecting on Leaving Neverland, he said “Here’s a good Michael Jackson story that doesn’t involve Michael Jackson at all. I ran into James Franco on a plane. I’d bumped into him two or three times over the years.”
He continued “I give him a little nod as we’re putting our bags overhead. Hey, how you doing? Good, how ya doing? And it was right after the Leaving Neverland documentary came out, and he goes, ‘So, that documentary!’”
Culkin recalled “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.’ ”
Macaulay Culkin’s earlier statements
Culkin remembered advice he gave to Jackson’s daughter, Paris. “Don’t forget to be silly, don’t forget to take something away from this whole experience, and don’t forget to stick something up your sleeve.”
Culkin’s comments to Esquire echo his earlier words about Jackson. In 2019, CNN reported Culkin discussed Jackson on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. “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 “I was a peerless person. Nobody else in my Catholic school even had this much idea of what I was going through, and he was the kind of person who’d been through the exact same fr*ckin’ thing and wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone.” He also said “For me, it’s so normal and mundane. I know it’s a big deal to everybody else, but it was a normal friendship.”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
Also see: What Paul McCartney Said About the Allegations Against Michael Jackson
