US: Actor Macaulay Culkin took the stand at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial yesterday and denied he was molested, saying the accusations against the pop star were "absolutely ridiculous".
Culkin, who shot to fame as the wide-eyed kid in 1990's film Home Alone, is the third young man to appear for the defence to deny he was a victim of improper behaviour by Jackson during childhood visits.
He said prosecutors never approached him about whether he had been molested and he only learned of the allegations that he had been molested by watching news coverage of the trial.
"Somebody told me you should probably check out CNN because they're saying something about you," Culkin said. "I just couldn't believe it . . . It was amazing to me that nobody even approached me and asked if these allegations were true."
Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr asked Culkin, now 24, what he thought of the charges against Jackson.
"I think they're absolutely ridiculous," he said. Culkin told the jury he felt a special bond with Jackson because they were both child stars.
"We're a part of a unique group of people . . . He'd been through that before, so he understood what it was like to be put in that position I was in, to be thrust into it," Culkin said. He entered court through a back entrance and was not seen by photographers or about two-dozen Jackson fans outside
Prosecution witnesses testified earlier that Jackson inappropriately touched Culkin, who was a frequent childhood guest of Jackson.
Those witnesses included a chef who testified he saw Jackson with his hand up Culkin's shorts as the singer held the boy up to a video game at Jackson's Neverland ranch.
A former maid also testified previously that Culkin stayed in Jackson's bedroom during visits to Neverland. That woman, whose son received a $2.4 million settlement from Jackson in 1994, was attacked by the defence because she was paid $20,000 to appear on a TV show.
Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to get them to rebut a TV documentary in which the boy appeared with Jackson, who said he let children sleep in his bed but that it was non-sexual.
Culkin testified he met Jackson when he was 9 or 10-years-old and has remained friends since.
He said his family has been to Neverland several times and has been in the singer's bedroom.
He said he never felt his family was excluded from the bedroom or any other part of the ranch.
Culkin was also asked about whether he had ever seen anything improper happen with Brett Barnes or Wade Robson, the two young men who also testified for the defence last week.
"I've never seen him do anything improper with anyone," Culkin said.
On cross-examination, senior deputy district attorney Ron Zonen asked Culkin if prosecutors had tried repeatedly to contact him but had been rebuffed.
"Not that I know of, no," Culkin said.
Mr Zonen asked whether prosecutors had attempted to contact him in 1993 - during an investigation involving another boy - and recently when his attorney said he wouldn't give statement to either side prior to his testimony.
Culkin said his lawyer had suggested he not talk to attorneys in advance and he agreed.
"I wasn't really planning on testifying," he said.
Culkin testified that he slept in Jackson's bed several times between the ages of 10 and 14, sometimes with other boys as well.
He said the sleepovers weren't planned and that he and other guests would just fall asleep when they were tired. - (AP)