One of the most emotional moments of the 2026 Emmy Awards show was Macaulay Culkin tearing up while paying tribute to his onscreen mom from Home Alone and late actress Catherine O'Hara.
Fans commented on him posing with his longtime lover Brenda Song, saying he’s finally “living the life.”
“Here is proof that you can be reborn and become the best Version of yourself,” said another.
Culkin became Hollywood royalty by the age of 10, landing the widely popular role of Kevin McAllister in the Home Alone franchise.
But stardom wasn’t always smooth sailing for him, and he stepped away from acting at the age of 14 to focus on his studies.
The following year, the child star formally emancipated himself by removing his parents Kit and Patricia as his legal guardians.
The parents were reportedly enjoying 15% of his paychecks, which would climb as high as $8.09 million at the time.
“Look, I mean, it sucks. But, it coulda been worse, you know?” he very matter-of-factly told Esquire in 2020.
“I wasn’t working in a coal mine. I wasn’t a child soldier. My father was not s**ually ab*sing me. ‘Certain f***ed up things happened, but f****d up things happen to kids all the time and they don’t come out the other end.”
When Culkin was 24, a mugshot of him reached the corners of the globe after Oklahoma cops found illicit substances in his car in 2004.
He pled guilty to possessing marij**na and medication without a prescription and was given a one-year deferred prison sentence. The judge also ordered him to pay £300 in fees.
Fans further grew concerned in 2012 when shocking photos of the Changeland star circulated online, showing him looking gaunt and frail.
Many assumed at the time that he was hooked onto hardcore and harmful substances, but Culkin insisted he “was not pounding six grand of her**n a month” at the time.
He also slammed tabloids at the time for wrapping up the news in this “weird guise of concern.”
“You’re trying to shift papers,” he said in a 2016 interview with the Guardian.
The actor, however, has admitted that he has taken illicit substances over the years.
“A lot of times, when you’re having fun you’re rolling on MDMA or something,” he said with a laugh while speaking to Esquire.
“It doesn’t mean you’re happy. It just means you’re altered,” he continued. “One of my favorite jokes: I’ve been accused of having a dr*g problem, but nothing could be further from the truth. Dr*gs are the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Despite having “played with some fire,” he said he has never been to rehab or ever had to “clean out” in that way.
“So besides the occasional muscle relaxer, no, I don’t do dr*gs recreationally,” he said about his situation at the time. “I still kinda drink like a fish. I drink and I smoke. But I don’t touch the things. I do love them. They’re like old friends. But sometimes you outgrow your friends.”
Culkin’s glow-up in the mid-2010s was one of the most talked about online, with one fan previously saying: “he looks sooooo good.”
“If Macaulay Culkin can have a Glo Up at the age of 36, then there's hope for me yet,” said another.
Fans commented on him posing with his longtime lover Brenda Song, saying he’s finally “living the life.”
“Here is proof that you can be reborn and become the best Version of yourself,” said another.
Culkin became Hollywood royalty by the age of 10, landing the widely popular role of Kevin McAllister in the Home Alone franchise.
But stardom wasn’t always smooth sailing for him, and he stepped away from acting at the age of 14 to focus on his studies.
The following year, the child star formally emancipated himself by removing his parents Kit and Patricia as his legal guardians.
The parents were reportedly enjoying 15% of his paychecks, which would climb as high as $8.09 million at the time.
“Look, I mean, it sucks. But, it coulda been worse, you know?” he very matter-of-factly told Esquire in 2020.
“I wasn’t working in a coal mine. I wasn’t a child soldier. My father was not s**ually ab*sing me. ‘Certain f***ed up things happened, but f****d up things happen to kids all the time and they don’t come out the other end.”
When Culkin was 24, a mugshot of him reached the corners of the globe after Oklahoma cops found illicit substances in his car in 2004.
He pled guilty to possessing marij**na and medication without a prescription and was given a one-year deferred prison sentence. The judge also ordered him to pay £300 in fees.
Fans further grew concerned in 2012 when shocking photos of the Changeland star circulated online, showing him looking gaunt and frail.
Many assumed at the time that he was hooked onto hardcore and harmful substances, but Culkin insisted he “was not pounding six grand of her**n a month” at the time.
He also slammed tabloids at the time for wrapping up the news in this “weird guise of concern.”
“You’re trying to shift papers,” he said in a 2016 interview with the Guardian.
The actor, however, has admitted that he has taken illicit substances over the years.
“A lot of times, when you’re having fun you’re rolling on MDMA or something,” he said with a laugh while speaking to Esquire.
“It doesn’t mean you’re happy. It just means you’re altered,” he continued. “One of my favorite jokes: I’ve been accused of having a dr*g problem, but nothing could be further from the truth. Dr*gs are the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Despite having “played with some fire,” he said he has never been to rehab or ever had to “clean out” in that way.
“So besides the occasional muscle relaxer, no, I don’t do dr*gs recreationally,” he said about his situation at the time. “I still kinda drink like a fish. I drink and I smoke. But I don’t touch the things. I do love them. They’re like old friends. But sometimes you outgrow your friends.”
Culkin’s glow-up in the mid-2010s was one of the most talked about online, with one fan previously saying: “he looks sooooo good.”
“If Macaulay Culkin can have a Glo Up at the age of 36, then there's hope for me yet,” said another.