It was at the age of 14 that things started to unravel quite terribly for Macaulay. It wasn't his fault, but life, stardom, and tragedy started to get in the way of his success. Although initially a devoted father, Kit Culkin turned out to have a very dark side, which came out in the most horrendous way possible. In 1995, he was accused of punching his wife Patricia, who was then pregnant.
Naturally, Patricia wasn't going to stick around to see if things would get better. She immediately filed for custody of Macaulay and all of his brothers and sisters, demanding that Kit not be able to see them anymore. It was a long and brutal battle in the courts, and attracted quite a lot of media attention. In the end, though, Patricia won.