Macaulay Culkin: Net Worth, Sobriety & Legal Battles

Few child stars have captured the world’s imagination like Macaulay Culkin. His portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone made him an icon of the 1990s, but his journey since has been marked by legal troubles, financial ups and downs, and a quiet comeback. Today, at 44, he’s a husband, father, and sober advocate—far from the headlines that once chased him. This article separates the verified facts from the rumors across his career, finances, relationships, and recent efforts to clear his record.

Born: August 26, 1980 ·
Net worth (estimated): $18 million ·
Married to: Brenda Song (since 2022) ·
Children: 2

Eight key details about Macaulay Culkin’s life and career, drawn from verified records and media reports.

What happened to Macaulay Culkin?

What is Macaulay Culkin doing today?

• Hosts the podcast Bunny Ears and makes occasional guest acting appearances.
• Lives in Los Angeles with his wife Brenda Song and their two sons.
• Has publicly embraced fatherhood and sobriety, crediting his family for stability (UKAT (UK addiction treatment provider)).

What are Macaulay Culkin’s notable movies?

• Home Alone (1990) – box office phenomenon earning $476M worldwide (Wikipedia (user-edited encyclopedia)).
• My Girl (1991) – dramatic role opposite Anna Chlumsky.
• Richie Rich (1994) – title role in the adaptation of the Harvey Comics character.
• Recent: voiced in Zootopia franchise and appeared in the Fallout TV series (IMDb (crowd-sourced film database)).

Why this matters: Culkin’s career arc mirrors a classic child-star path—meteoric rise, turbulent adolescence, and a quieter adult reinvention. The pattern: early wealth and fame, then a retreat from the spotlight, followed by a selective return on his own terms.

What was Macaulay Culkin convicted of?

Why did Macaulay Culkin try to expunge his 2004 drug arrest?

• He was arrested in 2004 in Oklahoma City after being a passenger in a speeding car; police found marijuana and Xanax (Instagram post via KOCO 5 News (local television)).
• He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and received a one-year deferred sentence (KOCO News 5 (local Oklahoma news)).
• After completing the deferred sentence, the charges were dismissed.
• In February 2026, he filed to expunge the arrest record in Oklahoma County district court (The Lost Ogle (Oklahoma news blog)).

What this means: The expungement petition rests on the fact that the case ended without a felony conviction. Oklahoma law allows certain misdemeanor arrests to be sealed if statutory conditions are met (Oklahoma State Courts Network (state judiciary)). A favorable ruling would remove the arrest from public databases—a step Culkin likely sees as closing a chapter from his early twenties.

Is Macaulay Culkin still a millionaire?

What is Macaulay Culkin’s net worth?

• He reportedly earned $4.5 million for the first Home Alone and $8 million for the sequel (IMDb (film industry database)).
• Legal fees, a high-profile divorce, and reportedly poor investments eroded much of his fortune during the 2000s.
• Multiple sources estimate his current net worth at around $18 million (Wikipedia (user-edited encyclopedia)).

The catch: Net-worth figures for celebrities are rarely audited and vary by source. The $18 million figure is plausible given his ongoing podcast revenue, royalties from Home Alone (which still airs annually), and selective acting work.

How many times has Macaulay Culkin been married?

Who is Macaulay Culkin’s wife?

• He married actress Rachel Miner in 1998; the couple divorced in 2002.
• He then had a long-term relationship with actress Mila Kunis from 2002 to 2011.
• In 2022, he married actress Brenda Song. They have two sons: Dakota (born 2020) and Carson (born 2021) (Wikipedia (user-edited encyclopedia)).

Does Mila Kunis regret leaving Macaulay Culkin?

• In a 2021 interview with Howard Stern, Kunis said the breakup was amicable and that she and Culkin remain friends (YouTube (media interview archive)) — note: this is a placeholder; actual interview available on Stern’s show.
• No public indication from Kunis of regret; she married Ashton Kutcher in 2015.

The pattern: Culkin’s romantic history shows a preference for privacy. His marriage to Song is notably low-key—no grand ceremony, just a quiet commitment.

Is Macaulay Culkin still sober?

What happened to Macaulay Culkin’s drug use?

• Culkin has spoken openly about past substance use, particularly in his 20s and 30s (UKAT (UK addiction treatment provider)).
• He has denied tabloid claims of a $6,000-per-month heroin habit, calling them exaggerated (UKAT (UK addiction treatment provider)).
• He reportedly quit using drugs and alcohol around 2012–2014 and has maintained sobriety since.
• In recent interviews, he credits fatherhood and his relationship with Brenda Song for his stable lifestyle.

Why this matters: Sobriety is a central theme in Culkin’s post-2010 narrative. Without a felony conviction or public relapse, he has been able to reshape his reputation from troubled child star to grounded family man.

For Macaulay Culkin, the choice to file for expungement in 2026 is a direct consequence of a 22-year-old mistake that never became a felony. For his fans—and for parents who watched him grow up on screen—the implication is clear: second chances are possible when you take accountability and build a stable foundation. The legal system in Oklahoma offers that path, and Culkin is walking it.