Publicist denies actor is ill, says speculating otherwise is “irresponsible”

Feb 10, 2012 14:00 GMT  ·  By
Macaulay Culkin is in good health, his publicist says as photos of him looking emaciated emerge online
   Macaulay Culkin is in good health, his publicist says as photos of him looking emaciated emerge online

Macaulay Culkin, star of the “Home Alone” franchise, is barely recognizable these days. Paparazzi have photos of him looking incredibly gaunt and sickly, but his publicist insists he's in perfect health.

The Sun has the photos.

The other day, the 31-year-old star was photographed out and about, looking incredibly thin and gaunt. From that to speculating there was something wrong with him, was but a step.

The British tabloid was among the first media outlets to take it.

“Believe it or not, this is the bloke who played the cute mischievous kid in Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin cut a worryingly emaciated figure as he stepped out in New York yesterday,” The Sun writes.

“Sporting messy hair and facial fluff around his mouth, the actor appeared to be wasting away as he posed with fans,” the same media outlet notes.

“It was still unmistakably the lad who played cheeky Kevin McCallister in the 1990 classic family flick, but his puny frame and gaunt face are bound to spark fears for his health,” adds the tab.

Indeed, just hours after the photos made their way online (you can see them by following the link in the second paragraph), speculation was running rampart on what could possibly be ailing him.

Voices online said that he was either battling an eating disorder or some secret addiction, the latter being probably a more likely possibility given his arrest for marijuana and controlled substances possession of a few years back.

However, his publicist insists that all is fine.

In a statement to Us Weekly, Macaulay's rep says the actor is in good health and any other suggestion that he's not is ridiculous and harmful.

“Macaulay Culkin is in perfectly good health. For Entertainment Tonight or any other media to speculate otherwise is thoughtless, irresponsible and destructive,” says the publicist.

A source close to the star tells the celebrity publication that “He is thin, so when he loses one pound it just looks like more,” while another hints that he's been having emotional issues for years, which explains his frail frame.