In a revealing interview on the "Sibling Revelry" podcast with Kate and Oliver Hudson, actor Macaulay Culkin opened up about his troubled relationship with his estranged father, Christopher "Kit" Culkin, describing him as a "bad man" who was physically and mentally abusive during his childhood.
The "Home Alone" star, now 44, disclosed that he hasn't spoken to his father in over 30 years - a separation he feels is well-deserved. "He's a man who had seven kids, and now he has four grandkids, and none of them want anything to do with him," Culkin stated during the podcast.
Culkin shared that one of his earliest memories of his father shaped his own approach to parenting: "When I grow up, this is how I'm not gonna be with my kids." The actor, who now has two sons with actress Brenda Song, described his father as "one of those narcissistic, crazy people" who likely harbored resentment toward his early success.
The strained relationship stemmed partly from his father's unfulfilled acting ambitions. "He wanted to be an actor," Culkin explained, suggesting his father was jealous of his achievements as a child star. "I think he kind of hated me a little bit for that."
Recalling the physical abuse, Culkin said, "I would take his whoopins... but the whole time I was sitting there going, 'Oh I'm gonna win, at the end.'" This wasn't the first time Culkin has spoken about the abuse - in a 2018 interview on Marc Maron's podcast, he mentioned having scars from the physical mistreatment.
Despite these difficult experiences, Culkin has worked to reshape his perspective on fatherhood since becoming a parent himself. He shared on Instagram last June that while Father's Day had been complicated for him in the past, he's now "decided to reinvent the wheel" since becoming a father.
The actor appears to have found peace and happiness in his current life, sharing two sons - Dakota and Carson - with his fiancée Brenda Song, while maintaining no contact with his father, who reportedly stated in 2016 that he no longer considers Macaulay a son.