Internet, what in the name of Kevin McCallister is going on with Macaulay Culkin?
If you’ve been lax about keeping tabs on Macaulay, 1) shame on you for having better things to do, and 2) allow me to fill you in: the 31-year-old former child star resurfaced at pal Natalie Portman’s wedding earlier this month, breathing new life into the rumors that he’s been secretly wasting away under the grips of drug addiction.
The media has been all too eager to sink their chops back into speculations about what Macaulay has been up to, and I have to admit I am no exception…but I’m doing it from a place of love. I care about you, mid-90s child actor sensation! Let’s try to work this out together!
Let’s begin by taking a quick tour of Macaulay’s life and career up until this point. Born in 1980, Macaulay was in the spotlight before he could even spell the word, taking on acting gigs beginning at age four. His biggest early successes included a role in John Hughes’ Uncle Buck in 1989, and the wildly popular flick that would make him a huge star, Home Alone, in 1990. He filmed a Home Alone sequel after that, as well as taking roles in My Girl?and Richie Rich among others…but really, Home Alone was his jam, and that was pretty much that. Outside of his career, he also formed a famous friendship with not-controversial-at-all Michael Jackson (remember Macaulay rapping in MJ’s “Black or White” video? If so, I’m sorry), and was estranged from his father amid some dodgy reports over Macaulay’s massive earnings (and the icky parental behavior that often results).
What else? Well, he up and got married at the tender age of 18 to actress Rachel Miner (they separated in 2000 and divorced in 2002), and then entered in a long-term relationship with Mila Kunis from 2002-2011.
That same time frame also included some pretty drastic highs and lows for Macaulay; choice roles in Saved! and Party Monster were followed by an arrest for possession of? marijuana and controlled substances in Oklahoma City.
But apart from an appearance in an online series and a few music videos, Macaulay was laying pretty low career-wise, and, well…fine. I think he’s got some pretty decent acting talent, but if it comes down to laying low versus going down in a massive, flaming celebrity dysfunction spiral, I will prefer laying low every time. But is that all Macaulay’s been doing? Take a look at a photo of him from February of this year:
Dude. DUDE. What is going on?! I know this was taken after Mila Kunis had removed her magical presence from your life, and I know you’ve always been a petite sort of guy, but this? This is the appearance of someone who is Keith Richards-ing into middle age, not a young, 31-year-old man.
Unfortunately, things only went downhill from there. Macaulay bailed on a DJ gig (he’s…a DJ now? Hoookay) shortly after the above photo was taken, and then the speculation about his appearance started to take on a life of its own. It’s hard to tell whether this appearance fueled the drug rumors or if actual drugs were fueling his appearance, but the National Enquirer recently published claims that Macauley has a $6,000 a month addiction to heroin and oxycodone (sometimes charmingly referred to as “hillbilly heroin”). Culkin’s reps were quick to call bullshit on the entire story, but we’ve all been around the Hollywood rumor mill long enough to know that where there’s smoke (*cough*continuous tabloid stories about John Travolta’s homosexual activities*cough*) there’s usually?at least?a little bit of fire (*cough*MULTIPLE SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES FILED BY MALE MASSEUSES*cough*).
The rampant rumor-mongering isn’t being helped at all by the fact that Macaulay still looks pretty rough around the edges these days. And you know what you probably shouldn’t do when everyone thinks you’re on drugs and you look like a drifter who’s been sleeping under a bench at the bus station for a month? Wander outside the damn Chateau Marmont in LA where the paparazzi are pretty much permanently stationed and look like you’re about to fucking boot.
To be fair, some websites are calling this a simple coughing fit and not a prelude to a barf, but still: looking rough, son.
Honestly, I don’t even know what to make of all this. On the one hand, Macaulay seems to be pretty good at staying out of the usual Hollywood bullshit, but on the other hand, he looks pretty terrible and I can’t help but believe these drug rumors have legs (did I mention that a friend of Macaulay’s died of an overdose in March? And her family confirmed that she used to get high with Macaulay? YIIIKES). C’mon, Macaulay. Get clean, get healthy, and get a couple dozen milkshakes in your belly. Don’t be a real-life Party Monster.
Zivile says
When I saw picture of the state of him few months ago, I literally cried, it’s so upsetting knowing someone who made your childhood better is screwing his own life while letting those people down who love his movies, I thought he is going to be one handsome man, wow instead of buying $6000 amount of drugs, I’d take him on a good shopping trip, he should be addicted to shopping not drugs, he is ruining his beauty! Am so sad, if I could I’d take care of him, with all this money he should go on a good rehabilitation centre that would make him clean healthy and drug free, I wish him all the strength and all the health to get his self clean and going again x