The friendship between Macaulay Culkin and the late singer Michael Jackson is widely known and well-documented. The actor revealed in an interview with Larry King that he met the King of Pop while working on a theater production, and Jackson then gave him an unexpected call.
“I first met him, he kind of called me randomly, like, out of the blue, he was just kind of like, ‘Hi, it’s Michael’, and I’m like, ‘Hey’,” Culkin said. “This was after Home Alone. I’d actually met him once before when I was doing The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, I was playing Fritz, and he came backstage one day and I actually met him very briefly. And he kind of recognized me because it was after I’d done Uncle Buck.”
Macaulay Culkin says he never saw the late Michael Jackson molest anybody
Following the death of Jackson in 2009, allegations surfaced that he had reportedly abused children, as depicted in the controversial documentary, Leaving Neverland. In spite of these allegations, Culkin claimed that he never witnessed Jackson engaging in any kind of abuse and also maintained that Jackson had never acted inappropriately towards him.
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The Pagemaster star even testified in Jackson’s defense during a 2005 trial in which the singer was accused of molesting a boy. The King of Pop was eventually found not guilty.
Macaulay Culkin addresses rumors about him being abused by Michael Jackson
Despite Culkin’s denial of any abuse by Jackson, some have still speculated over the years that he may have been a victim, largely due to the high-profile nature of their friendship. However, in a recent interview with Esquire magazine, the 42-year-old addressed all the rumors.
“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 flashpoint in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back,” Culkin told the publication. “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.”