Macaulay Culkin is getting candid about his relationship with his estranged father, Kit Culkin, saying that they haven't spoken for "about 30-something years."
"He deserves it, too," the 44-year-old actor revealed during a recent interview on Kate and Oliver Hudson's "Sibling Reverly" podcast. "He's a man who — he had seven kids, and now he has four grandkids, and none of them want anything to do with him."
Macaulay Culkin went on to say that if his father's family were rejecting him, it would be a clear sign that he had messed up and hurt them. However, he is convinced that his father — whom he described as "the worst person" he has ever encountered — would not share that same perspective.
"I have more than an inkling that he does not feel that way," he said. "Like, we're wrong, and he's right. He's one of those narcissistic, crazy people."
The "Home Alone" star recounted his childhood experience of being caught in the bitter custody dispute between his father and his mother, Patricia Brentrup, during the 1990s.
"I wanted nothing to do with my [expletive] father," he said. "He was just the worst. The judge was like, 'Well, you have to do visitations with him' … I told my lawyer, 'Yeah, I'm not doing that.'"
Culkin revealed that his lawyer cautioned him during the trial that he could face contempt of court charges if he refused to meet with his father.
At the height of his career as a child star, Culkin remembered responding to his lawyer, saying, "How about this? I dare the judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my] abusive father."
He added, "I actually had to double down on that. 'I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world.' … That was the one time I played that card."
Now that he and his fiancée, actress Brenda Song, 37, are raising two young sons of their own, Culkin said he finds himself even more appalled by his father's alleged mistreatment of his children.
"Now that I got kids of my own … it kicks up some dust, and I go, 'I can't believe he was like that. He had all these lovely kids — and talented kids too,'" he said.
In a 2018 interview on comedian Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, Culkin opened up about his strained relationship with his father, accusing him of being "jealous" of his acting success.
Everything he tried to do in his life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old," he said at the time.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.