Trump Debunks Theory He 'Bullied' Himself Into 'Home Alone 2': 'Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth'
Forget the old arguments about whether “Love Actually” or “Die Hard” are really Christmas movies — there’s a new Christmas movie debate, and it stars none other than former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Insider published on Sunday, director Chris Columbus claimed Trump “bullied” his way into the 1992 film “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.”
For those who don’t remember, “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York” was the sequel to the 1990 movie “Home Alone.” This second installment of the smash hit is set in New York after the young Kevin McCallister, played with wide-eyed verve by a young Macaulay Culkin, accidentally gets on the wrong flight at the start of a family vacation to Miami.
According to Columbus, in order to get the permit to film the movie at The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned, Trump stipulated that he should be allowed to have a part in the movie.
“So we agreed to put him in the movie, and when we screened it for the first time, the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.’ But he did bully his way into the movie,” Columbus said.
But Trump is pushing back on this version of the events that led to his cameo.
In a Wednesday post on Truth Social, Trump debunked the accusation that he “bullied” his way into the movie, writing, “30 years ago (how time flies!), Director Chris Columbus, and others, were begging me to make a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2. They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent. I agreed, and the rest is history! “
Trump stated that the cameo “took off like a rocket” and that the movie went on to become a major success, especially around the Christmas season. He said he still has people reaching out when the film airs on TV.
Trump adamantly denied bullying his way into the film, saying, “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
“That cameo helped make the movie a success, but if they felt bullied, or didn’t want me, why did they put me in, and keep me there, for over 30 years? Because I was, and still am, great for the movie, that’s why! Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!” he wrote.
Only when it’s Donald Trump can a six-second celebrity cameo in a kid’s movie over 30 years old turn into front-page news and a source of partisan controversy.
While it’s impossible to tell with certainty which version is closer to the truth, the fact remains that even Columbus admitted that people cheered the moment Trump came on, which, according to his version, is why he kept the clip in.
While the conflicting accounts from Trump and director Chris Columbus make it impossible to ascertain the precise truth, Columbus tellingly attested that test audiences cheered the moment Trump appeared on the screen.
I’m old enough to remember people saying, “Home Alone 2? How the Hell do you forget your kid not ONCE but TWICE?”
Then, there was that cameo with Donald Trump and people were like…
“Yo, you see Trump was in Home Alone 2?” https://t.co/S16pm0z6tH
— Rich Baris “The People’s Pundit” (@Peoples_Pundit) December 24, 2023
This reaction, by his own admission, was what convinced the director to retain the clip, which could easily have ended up on the cutting room floor if he had so wished.
Regardless of how the cameo came to pass, for Columbus to have leveraged Trump’s celebrity value as an added attraction in the movie at the time, only to later accuse him of bullying, strikes one as petty and ungrateful in retrospect.
But this type of incident is par for the course of the former president, who has likely grown accustomed to being used for commercial gain and then thrown over when it’s not politically correct.
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