THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 0327 -- Pictured: Donald Trump on September 11, 2015 -- (Photo by: Douglas Gorenstein/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump has responded to recent claims that he bullied his way into getting a cameo in the Christmas classic, ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.’
The film, which was released back in 1992, was the sequel to 1990’s ‘Home Alone,’ starring Macaulay Culkin. In the movie, Trump makes a brief appearance as Culkin’s character, Kevin McCallister, strolls his way through the New York Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time.
But in a recent interview with Business Insider, director Chris Columbus surprisingly revealed that they never personally approached Trump to make an appearance.
The 65-year-old explained how he wanted to shoot a scene in the lobby of the iconic hotel and that the production team was unable to rebuild a replica on a soundstage.
This prompted them to ask the hotel if they could film inside the building for a set amount of time.
Trump apparently found the fee offered to the hotel insufficient. Then, he only agreed to approve the hotel’s use in the film if he secured a cameo.
“We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie,’” Columbus shared. “So we agreed to put him in the movie.”
The director agreed to the deal but ultimately wasn’t sure if he would include Trump in the film’s final edit.
Columbus recalled the audience cheering when the big screen showed the former President during the movie’s final test run.
“So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.’ But he did bully his way into the movie,” he concluded.
On Wednesday (December 27), Trump took to Truth Social to dispel the director’s accusation about him, per The Guardian. The former president insisted that Columbus “begged” him to be part of the film despite his “very busy” schedule at the time.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote.”
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?”
When approached for an on-camera appearance, he initially “didn’t want to do it.” Columbus allegedly persisted with including the then-businessman in the hotel scene, presumably because Trump owned it.
Trump eventually agreed, he said, leaving him baffled as to why he would force his way into the film to begin with. Concluding his post, Trump said that Columbus was simply seeking publicity at the cost of his reputation.
