Macaulay Culkin Still Insists Nothing Happened Between Him And Michael Jackson, And Adds That James Franco Is A Nosy Pest
Don’t feel sorry for Macaulay Culkin, some child stars turn out just fine (eventually), even the ones with supremely shitty parents. While Mack, as he’s known, went through a period of heroin adjacent tabloid drama, he now spends his days positively chilling, according to a recent Esquire profile. He barely works (BY CHOICE!), and spends his time goofing on the internet, smoking cigarettes, chilling with his cats and “keeping his lady fed” which is not a euphemism for butt stuff. The lady in question is his girlfriend, fellow former child actor Brenda Song (The Suite Life of Zach & Cody), and Mack says they are trying for a baby. A real one this time! In the interview, Mack (I hate it so much, but he insists) also talked a little bit about his relationship with Michael Jackson, reiterating that nothing sexual ever happened between them. More delightfully, Mack talked about the time he dunked on James Franco for getting nosy with him on an airplane.
Previously, Mack has asserted that there was nothing weird about him being BFFs with an adult man at the age of 10. Mack stands by that and says that if anything had happened, he’d say. Especially now in “this flash point in time,” and with Michael being dead. Unlike his brother Kieran Culkin who says there’s nothing to gain from him speaking about his experiences with MJ (which very well might have differed from Mack’s), Mack insists there is simply nothing to tell.
“Look,” he says. “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. 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.
And that’s that on that. No need to ask Mack about Michael Jackson ever again, especially if your name is James Franco. Here’s how Mack chose to end the conversation about his relationship with MJ.
“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. 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!’ 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.’ ”
They’re called boundaries, James. You just know he was hoping to get a scoop from Mack and use it in some irony laden, avant-garde, pop-up theatrical production, but Johnny Depp beat him to it. Here’s some shots from Mack’s (ack!) cover shoot.
Pic: Esquire via Instagram