Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump hit back at claims that he bullied his way into a cameo appearance in the classic holiday flick “Home Alone: Lost in New York” and as he tells it, he was begged to show up onscreen.
In a slow Christmas week news cycle, the media seized on resurfaced comments by the 1992 film’s director Chris Columbus to feed its constant negative coverage of the former president and to reinforce the narrative that he’s a domineering bully.
When asked about Trump’s appearance in the sequel to the 1990 box office hit “Home Alone,” the director told Business Insider in 2020 that the billionaire real estate mogul insisted on being in the movie as a condition of using the Trump-owned Plaza Hotel in New York City as a location.
Home Alone 2!
Donald Trump Truth Social 02:45 PM EST 12/25/23 pic.twitter.com/g4xMhnHesK
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 26, 2023
“We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time, because we wanted to shoot in the lobby. We couldn’t rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage,” Columbus recalled in the interview. “Trump said OK. We paid the 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, and when we screened it for the first time the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. 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,” the director told the outlet.
But Trump told a much different story.
“30 years ago (how time flies!), Director Chris Columbus, and others, were begging me to make a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2. They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent. I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket, and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time,” Trump said in a Wednesday post to Truth Social.
(Screenshot: Truth Social)
“People call me whenever it is aired. Now, however, 30 years later, Columbus (what was his real name?) put out a statement that I bullied myself into the movie. Nothing could be further from the truth. 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? Because I was, and still am, great for the movie, that’s why! Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!” Trump added.
Originally hitting theaters in November 1992, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” was a smash hit, raking in $359 million in box office receipts, and has been a holiday season fixture for over three decades.
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