Home Alone 2: Lost in New York director Chris Columbus expresses regret over Donald Trump’s appearance in the film. The 1992 movie is the follow-up to the 1990 instant holiday classic Home Alone, which introduced Macaulay Culkin as Kevin. The sequel is scaled up to greater geographic proportions as Kevin accidentally gets on a flight to New York City when the rest of his family is headed to Miami. The movie features Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, Kieran Culkin, and John Heard, and famously has a cameo from now-President Donald Trump.

Speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle, Columbus wishes Trump’s cameo never happened. He explained that Home Alone 2 was screened in Chicago, and the Trump cameo scene was wildly popular. He specified that “they [the audience] cheered and they cheered and they thought it was hilarious.” So, it was kept in the movie, but the director “wish[es] it was not there” and says Trump was lying when he said that Columbus “begged him to be in the movie.” Check out the full quote from Columbus below:

We screened the film in Chicago, and when that moment came onscreen the audience went crazy. They cheered and they cheered and they thought it was hilarious. I think I know a lot about comedy, but I don’t, obviously, because I never thought that was going to be considered hilarious.

Years later, it’s become this curse. It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there. What’s going through this guy’s mind? He said I was lying. I’m not lying. He said I begged him to be in the movie, but there’s no world I would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie. But we were desperate to get the Plaza H๏τel.

But it’s there. It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.

What This Means For Home Alone 2

Trump Previously Posted About This Issue Online

In the movie, Trump appeared at the iconic Plaza H๏τel in New York City, which he owned at the time. He helps provide Kevin with directions when asking for the lobby. In 2020, Columbus was quoted saying that Trump told him “The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.” In 2023, Trump himself discovered this quote and abjectly rejected this claim. He took to social media to say that Columbus was “begging” him to be in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, expressing the opposite message. At the time, Columbus did not respond to Trump’s statement.

Two years later, Columbus doubles down that he definitely did not beg Trump to be in the film. In fact, the director notes that “there’s no world [he] would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie.” He also reiterated the Plaza H๏τel location being the reason for Trump’s appearance, saying that he and his team were “desperate to get the Plaza H๏τel.” Now, he not only maintains this story but expresses his regret over Trump’s appearance in the movie.

Our Take On Trump’s Home Alone 2 Appearance

Trump’s Controversial Status Makes This Appearance Unfortunate

It is not unlike Trump to want to save face, so his 2023 social media post about Home Alone 2 is unsurprising. Columbus’ side of the story is also completely sound, given he has maintained this position for over five years. However, the reality is that Trump’s inclusion in the Christmas movie sequel is an unfortunate element of Home Alone 2‘s legacy, as the President has become a contentious political figure. He only appears in the movie briefly, but it is still somewhat of “a curse” for the movie.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle