Hollywood director has figured out how to punish Trump, but fears deportation from the US
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York director Chris Columbus wants to remove scenes from the film featuring Trump, who made a cameo appearance in the cult film at his own hotel.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, the director noted that this scene, filmed more than 30 years ago, became a "curse" for him.
Columbus explained that Trump's participation in the film was a condition for filming at the Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time of filming in 1992. Columbus recalls that negotiating the prestigious location proved difficult. Despite having paid rent, Trump issued an ultimatum: If you want to film at the Plaza, let me be in the film.
“We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can shoot at the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.’ So we agreed to put him in the movie, and when we first screened it, a weird thing happened: People applauded when Trump came on screen. So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in. This is an audience moment,’” the director recalled.
Although the scene received a positive reaction from test audiences, Columbus now regrets leaving it out.
"The move cast a permanent shadow over Columbus. Over the years, as Trump became a political figure, many fans of the film began to view the scene as unnecessary and out of place. Petitions and online campaigns began to appear demanding that Trump be cut from the film or digitally replaced with another actor," the publication says.
One of the campaign's most high-profile moments occurred in 2021, when actor Macaulay Culkin supported a fan's idea to digitally replace Trump with an adult Culkin. In response to a tweet reading, "Petition to digitally replace Trump in Home Alone 2 with a 40-year-old Macaulay Culkin," the actor responded succinctly: " Sold."
Trump, for his part, did not remain on the sidelines of the debate. In 2023, he wrote on his own social network, Truth Social, that Columbus himself “begged” him to star in the film.
Today, the director calls Donald Trump's cameo "an eyesore" that he would like to remove from the film. However, he fears that any changes to the film now could be perceived as provocative. Although the director was born and raised in the United States, he, who has Italian roots, has stated that he could be "sent back to Italy."
"I can't cut it. If I cut it, I'll probably be expelled from the country. I'll be deemed unfit to live in the United States, so I'll have to go back to Italy or somewhere else," the director complains to the audience.
A Hollywood director has come up with a way to punish Trump, but fears deportation from the US.