In 2004, Macaulay Culkin appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" to offer some insight into his unusual friendship with Michael Jackson. The former child star shared that he first encountered Jackson backstage during his "Nutcracker" ballet show. Culkin added that Jackson later reached out to him out of the blue and asked to meet at his home. When Culkin appeared on Michael Rosenbaum's "Inside Of You" podcast, in 2019, he argued that the pop icon had good reasons for forming a friendship with him.
Culkin explained that as a child actor, it was difficult to find people he could relate to, pointing out, "He was the kind of person who had been through the exact same thing and wanted to make sure I wasn't alone." The "Home Alone" star also gushed, "He was f***** awesome. He was hilarious and sweet." The actor also defended Jackson's interest in children to King, by clarifying that the "Bad" singer bonded with kids because he could have fun and truly be himself around them.
Culkin elaborated that he didn't put Jackson on a pedestal either and treated him the same as anybody else, which the superstar greatly appreciated. After the child sexual abuse allegations came to light, Jackson received tremendous backlash for letting children like Culkin sleep in the same bed as him. However, Culkin didn't believe the concept was as weird as people were making it out to be since Jackson's bedroom wasn't just his bed but a gigantic space with multiple bathrooms and floors.
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