'Home Alone 2' director Chris Columbus wishes he could remove this from classic movie
(NEXSTAR) — It's been nearly 33 years since the release of the 1990s kid classic movie, "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," but all these years later, the film still remains an occasional topic of discussion online.
Recently, director Chris Columbus (who also directed the first "Home Alone") told the San Francisco Chronicle that one particular element of the 1992 sequel has "become this curse" he wishes he could remove.
In the movie, protagonist Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is walking through New York's famous Plaza Hotel when he runs into none other than businessman and future President Donald Trump, who owned the hotel at the time.
It's a seven-second cameo that's frequently made its rounds on social media since Trump first entered the political arena 10 years ago.
"I can't cut it," Columbus told the Chronicle. "If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country. I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something.”
According to Columbus, Trump would only agree to allow filming in the Plaza's lobby if he was put in the film.
"We paid the [filming] fee but he also said, 'The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie.' So we agreed to put him in the movie," Columbus told Business Insider in December 2023. Columbus added that he felt Trump "bullied his way into the movie."
Trump was quick to respond to Columbus' comments on his social media platform Truth Social, where the then-former President wrote: "I was very busy and didn't want to do it. They were very nice but above all, persistent."
He continued that, in his opinion, "the cameo took off like a rocket and the movie was a big success" because his appearance was "great for the movie," as reported by BBC.
Meanwhile, Kevin McCallister himself, Culkin, has said multiple times that he'd support removing Trump's cameo from "Home Alone 2." Back in January 2021, Culkin replied to a semi-viral tweet reading: "Petition to digitally replace Trump in ‘Home Alone 2’ with 40-year-old Macaulay Culkin," by saying, "Sold."
As of publishing time, Trump has not clapped back at Columbus (yet).