Donald Trump has denied claims made by the director Chris Columbus that he “bullied his way into” appearing in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
The former US president said on his social media platform Truth Social, that the film’s production team were “begging me to make a cameo appearance”.
Trump said of the 1992 film: “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! That little cameo took off like a rocket and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time. People call me whenever it is aired.”
The sequel to the 1990 comedy Home Alone, Home Alone 2 made $359m (£280m) and was the third-highest grossing film of 1992.
In 2020, Columbus, who directed both movies, told Business Insider that Trump’s cameo was a condition of being able to film inside the Plaza hotel, on top of the usual fee.
“He did bully his way into the movie,” said Columbus, who reported Trump as saying: “The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.”
But Trump said on Truth Social this week: “Nothing could be further from the truth.” He added that his appearance had given the film a considerable boost. “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!”
The Home Alone films, in which Macaulay Culkin plays a young boy who is accidentally abandoned by his family and has to battle burglars played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, have become Christmas viewing staples.
In a recent interview, Pesci recalled the experience of making the film as one of striking “spontaneity and creativity”. He also remembered “sustain[ing] serious burns to the top of my head” in a scene in which his character’s hat is set alight.
In 2019, some Trump supporters complained when his cameo was removed from a cut of the film screened on TV in Canada. At the time, Trump said he suspected this was orchestrated by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, amid a dispute between the two countries over trade tariffs.
A spokesperson for network CBC denied this, saying the film had been bought for broadcast by the network and edited in 2014, and Trump’s scene was one of several it omitted as they were “not integral to the plot”.
In 2021, Culkin said he was “sold” on the idea of digitally removing Trump from the film.
Trump was notorious for his cameo appearances in films and TV shows in the 80s and 90s. In 2017, Matt Damon backed Columbus’s claim that Trump insisted on appearing in productions that wanted to feature his properties, telling the Hollywood Reporter that such cameos were often removed from the final cut.
