In the aftermath of the messy custody battle, journalists started to dig deeper into the home life of the Culkins. What they found was not flattering to Kit. According to reports from many of the siblings, Kit's tough-as-nails manager persona wasn't just restricted to the studio. Although he wasn't abusive to his children, he didn't treat them with much respect or with love.
In one particular example, Macaulay confessed that his father would often force him to sleep on the couch instead of his own bed, if he had upset Kit in some way or "done something wrong." This was a boy worth tens of millions of dollars, forced to sleep on a couch in the living room. It got so bad with their father, in fact, that Macaulay and his brothers and sisters started calling their dad "Stinky". Not too creative, but very effective.