Michael Jackson spent the back half of his life forging close friendships with children and teens, famous and non-famous. He was also accused of having inappropriate relationships with two of them, though both children testified under oath that those claims were false. Macaulay Culkin recently opened up about his own friendship with the late pop star, and he said that theirs was brutally normal.
The former child star — now 38 and who recently lampooned his Home Alone past — spoke about the King of Pop on the podcast Inside of You, and how they became friends shortly after he became one of the biggest stars in the world.
“It’s almost easy to say it was weird or whatever, but it wasn’t because it made sense,” Culkin said. “Here’s the thing at the end of the day: We were friends. 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 there just wasn’t anything unusual about their friendship. “For me, it’s so normal and mundane,” he added.
“I really didn’t give a shit about famous people. I was thoroughly unimpressed by them … So when I first met him I was like, ‘Oh cool, you’re that guy who sings songs. I sing songs in school. That’s great. So anyway.’ I think that’s also one of the reasons why we got along. Everyone was always thoroughly impressed by him, so the fact that there was somebody treating him like a normal person, it really was that simple.”
The likely reason Culkin was asked about Jackson? There’s a two-part documentary headed for Sundance (and HBO thereafter), called Leaving Neverland, which re-investigates the allegations of child abuse lodged against Jackson. The announcement was met with pushback from Jackson’s fans and his estate. The latter called the film a “pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson” and “just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations.” Sundance refused to pull the doc.
(Via IndieWire)
