Former President Donald Trump criticized the director of the 1992 Christmas movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York for claiming that Trump bullied his way onto the set.
Before Trump was president, he was a well-known New York City real estate power player who made special appearances in iconic '90s TV shows and movies set in the Big Apple, from a cameo with Samantha Jones in Season 2 of Sex and the City to a run-in with Kevin McCallister in Home Alone 2.
Chris Columbus, the movie's director, said that Trump's cameo in the movie was not initially the director's decision. He said that in order to shoot in the lobby of The Plaza Hotel, where part of the movie is filmed, Trump, who owned the hotel at the time, requested that he be in the movie.
Trump later claimed, however, that it was Columbus who was "begging me to make a cameo" in the movie.
In an interview with Business Insider posted on Saturday, Columbus said that those involved in the movie not only had to pay a fee to use the location, but Trump "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," Columbus continued.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Trump slammed Columbus for his remarks in the interview, saying "nothing could be further from the truth."
He wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, "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. 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."
Trump questioned why the Home Alone franchise would keep him in the movie all these years if they didn't want him.
"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!" he wrote.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
