Macaulay Culkin defends friendship with Michael Jackson: 'It wasn't weird because it made sense'

Macaulay Culkin has opened up about his friendship with Michael Jackson.

The Home Alone star was speaking on the latest episode of the Inside of You podcast when he touched upon his well-publicised history with the singer.

“He reached out to me because a lot of things were happening, big and fast with me and I think he identified with that,” Culkin said, referencing his rise to fame as a 10-year-old following the release of Chris Columbus’s 1990 family film.

“At the end of the day, it’s almost easy to say it was weird or whatever, but it wasn’t because it made sense,” he added. “At the end of the day, we were friends.”

Culkin – who called Jackson “a peerless person” – expressed the belief that people thought their friendship was odd because the singer “was the most famous person in the world”.

“For me, it’s so normal and mundane,” he said. “I know it’s a big deal to everyone else, but to me, it was a normal friendship.”

Culkin is godfather to all three of Jackson’s children, including Paris. Culkin last year told podcast host Marc Maron: “I’m going to warn you now, I am very protective of her so just look out.”

The actor, now 38, recently revived the character of Kevin McCallister in a US advert.

Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres in April 2018, he called his notoriety “a curse and a blessing”.