Macaulay Culkin Opens Up About Relation With Father: "Abusive, Physically and Mentally"

Macaulay Culkin has never shied away from discussing his strained relationship with his father, Kit Culkin. Recently, he took to Instagram to share his thoughts on this "complicated" relationship ahead of Father’s Day.

“If you know a little about me, then you’d know I’ve had a complicated relationship with Father’s Day in the past,” he wrote, captioning a photo of a Father’s Day hamper featuring a Darth Vader teddy bear and other 'Star Wars' memorabilia.

Now a father of two, Culkin added, “But since becoming a papa myself, I’ve decided to reinvent the wheel. Other than getting an hour or two of extra sleep, I try to make the day a celebration of my boys more than me. After all, they are the ones who made me a father (no offence to Brenda).”

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Culkin has been in a relationship with actress Brenda Song. The couple welcomed their first son in 2021 and their second in 2022. In his post, Culkin explained, “In our house, Father’s Day isn’t held in as high regard as birthdays or Christmas, but it does outshine holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and the 4th of July. I try to do fun things for the boys on Father’s Day. It’s a special day.”

He expressed his gratitude for the PR team that sent him a Father’s Day care package with items his children could enjoy, concluding that the day is not for him, but “for the people that make me feel like a father.”

Culkin’s difficult relationship with his father has been well-documented. Kit Culkin quit his job to manage Macaulay’s burgeoning career in the 1980s, but this led to a tumultuous father-son relationship. In a candid interview with New York magazine in 2001, Culkin revealed, “My father was always, you know, abusive, but it didn’t get really, really, really bad until later on.” He recalled being pressured to work from a young age and being forced to sleep on the couch as a power play. “Kit was making me sleep on the couch, just because he could. Just to let you know who’s in charge,” Culkin said.

During a 2018 appearance on the 'WTF with Marc Maron' podcast, Culkin described his father as a “bad man,” sharing, “He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to.” Kit managed his finances and projects until Culkin removed his parents’ names during their custody battle. It was only then that Culkin discovered his net worth was around $50 million.

He told New York Magazine, “I had millions and millions of dollars in the bank, and my mother couldn’t pay the rent because she was spending all of her money on lawyers.”

Despite the bitterness, Culkin has not legally emancipated himself from his parents. Kit's late partner, Jeanette Krylowski, denied the abuse allegations, suggesting Culkin’s mother had lied to distance the children from their father. Kit has been estranged from his children since 1997, and Culkin reflected, “I think there’s two different fathers that I have. I have my father, and I have the one in my head. The real one is gone and should be gone.”