Macaulay Culkin's brother responds to Leaving Neverland: "There's a lot of really hurt feelings"
Kieran Culkin – brother of Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin – has discussed the impact of documentary Leaving Neverland, which spotlighted the accusations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck that Jackson sexually abused them as children.
In an interview with The Guardian, the Succession star – who maintained a friendship with Jackson as a child – voiced his reluctance to speak about the documentary directly, due to the risk of hurting others.
"The only thing I can say is that I can't really say anything and the reason for that is I can't be helpful to anyone," he said.
Related: A key Leaving Neverland scene was filmed a year later
"To me, it seems like there's two sides to this thing and because I can't be helpful on one side or the other, anything I say and anything that gets put out in print could only hurt somebody and there's already a lot of really hurt feelings.
"There are already a lot of people who are in a difficult position and if I contribute in any way, it's just going to hurt someone because I can't actually help."
Related: Leaving Neverland is not the documentary you think it is
Earlier this year, Macaulay Culkin – who appeared in court back in 2005 in defence of Jackson and the sexual assault allegations against him – spoke on actor Michael Rosenbaum's podcast Inside of You about his relationship with the Thriller singer.
"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 said. "At the end of the day, we were friends."
On Friday (August 16), HBO called for the dismissal of the $100 million lawsuit that the Michael Jackson estate filed against Leaving Neverland.
The Jackson estate filed the lawsuit against HBO in February on the grounds that the network had violated the terms of a non-disparagement clause in an agreement the two sides had dating back to 1992.
Michael Jackson's estate has continuously and publicly condemned the documentary and denied its claims since its premiere earlier this year, and it continued to do so in a statement from the estate's attorneys issued in response to the notion of dismissal.
Leaving Neverland aired on HBO in the US and on Channel 4 in the UK.
Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 (www.nspcc.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline on (1-800-422-4453) or the American SPCC (www.americanspcc.org).
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