' ... Macaulay Culkin out in Shoreditch
MACAULAY CULKIN is far from the cherub-faced burglar-busting Kevin McCallister we remember.
Health fears were growing for the Home Alone star after he was mistaken for a tramp on a night out in London’s Shoreditch last week.Smoking on a street corner at 2.30am with fingernails painted black, the multi-millionaire looked more like the sequel film’s bag lady.
Sports journalism student Marley Spindley, from Essex, took a picture of his pal Drew with his arm around Macaulay.
Kids' fave ... Macaulay in Home Alone
“We had a brief chat with him and his accent was American. It was only then that Drew asked him if he was Macaulay Culkin. Even then I wasn’t convinced. I’m no expert, but he didn’t seem all there.”
Fellow sports media student Drew added: “You would never have thought it was the same person who appeared in Home Alone.
“We chatted for about five minutes and he said he was in London seeing friends though he was vacant, speaking very quietly and mellow. He looked spaced out.
“You’d have thought he was a down-and-out, not a famous film star.”
Macaulay, who is over from the US on holiday, said when he was 14 that he was quitting acting after amassing an estimated £11million.
He married actress RACHEL MINER in 1998, divorced four years later and went out with MILA KUNIS for eight years before they split in 2010. He was arrested in the US in 2004 for possession of marijuana and Alprazolam and Clonazepam anti-depressants and given three one–year suspended jail sentences.
Last year Macaulay denied American magazine reports claiming he was hooked on heroin.
He was on better form in Bristol on Wednesday, appearing on stage at boat club Thekla with music pal ADAM GREEN for a cover of BEACH BOYS track Kokomo.
Shame it’s the wrong time of year for White Christmas, he was decent at that.
The former child star sparked fears for his wellbeing when he was snapped in New York.
He cut a stick-thin figure and appeared pale as he wandered around the Big Apple and posed with fans.
However, a spokesperson for the Home Alone actor, 31, insists he’s “in perfectly good health”.
ET Online — which published the photos — suggested his weight loss was for a role in upcoming British military flick Service Man.
But the actor’s publicist has denied his involvement in the film that's reportedly set to star Plan B and Martin Clunes.
Macaulay’s life since finding fame with Home Alone has been anything but plain sailing.
In 2004, he was arrested for possession of marijuana and two controlled substances in Oklahoma City, receiving three suspended prison terms, a small fine, and compulsory enrolment into a drug treatment programme.
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Macaulay testified at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial in 2005, having befriended the pop icon after featuring in the pop star's video for Black Or White.
Macaulay claimed he had slept in Jacko's bedroom on multiple occasions, but insisted nothing untoward happened and referred to the charges as "absolutely ridiculous".
In 2008, Macaulay's sister Dakota was killed when she was run down by a car in Los Angeles after stepping out into its path.
The 31-year-old’s spokeswoman blasted the allegations as “ridiculously fictitious” and “insulting”.
US publication the National Enquirer reported that Culkin is hooked on heroin and highly addictive painkiller oxycodone.
The story also claimed he had turned his New York flat into a drugs den where he gets high with friends or by himself.
But Culkin’s spokeswoman Michelle Bega said: “The report in the National Enquirer that Macaulay Culkin is addicted to heroin and assorted hallucinogenics is not only categorically without merit but it is also impossibly and ridiculously fictitious.”
Ms Bega went on to say the article was “destructive and insulting” to the star.
Healthier ... Macaulay Culkin
She is now dating Ashton Kutcher — and we told yesterday how the pair jetted to Bali for a romantic holiday.
A source said to be a close friend is said to have told the Enquirer: “Macaulay Culkin is hooked on drugs and it’s killing him.
“He’s been hooked for a year and a half and his drug of choice is either heroin or oxycodone.
“Mac is surrounding himself with junkies and lowlifes. It’s a real tragedy.”
Film fame ... Culkin hit the big time as a kid with Home Alone
The claims come after Culkin was seen looking gaunt and unwell in February.
Reports at the time said the 5ft 7in star had slimmed down to just 7st 6lbs.
Culkin is best known for playing Kevin McCallister in the Home Alone films. His childhood success failed to translate into an adult Hollywood career and he now DJs in clubs around the Big Apple.
