Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, shortbread baking in the oven… and Kim Kardashian singing a cover of “Santa Baby”? That might not have been on anyone’s Christmas 2024 bingo card, but, yes, this happened. And there’s a surprise star in the music video, too!
Macaulay Culkin, aka Kevin McAllister from the two best Home Alone movies, appeared as Santa Claus. And, um, that’s the only good part of the whole music video.
According to Variety, Travis Barker, who is married to Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian, produced the tune. Sure, when your brother-in-law is the talented drummer for a band as big as Blink-182, it makes sense you would ask him to do that. But nothing else in the video makes sense.
Although one fan called the Kardashian/Culkin video an “Iconic Christmas crossover” in an X post, and that’s certainly one take, it’s hard to know why this video needed to exist. After some of the video is distorted on purpose, which is probably meant to seem cool and quirky and artistic but just looks odd, Kardashian crawls around the floor of a house. An eerie elf is sitting on the kitchen counter and eating a snack, party guests are throwing a football around and fighting each other, and models wearing nothing but bras and underwear are playing Twister. There’s Jesus, a reindeer, and a cheerleader holding a top hat (because nothing says Merry Christmas like that?).
As Kardashian continues to crawl around a strange house, the vibe is more slasher movie than festive, unless you’re watching Black Christmas (the original or the remake). Finally, she passes by a snow-covered man shivering in only a scarf and then sees Santa Claus filming her. Culkin pulls the video camera away from his face and smirks. Maybe he’s wondering why he agreed to this? Or trying to figure out the storyline and purpose of this video, too?
Well, Culkin does seem to love Christmas, so maybe he thought this was a fun way to pay homage to this time of year. And Kardashian’s “Santa Baby” video wasn’t the only time he has embodied the rolly polly figure. Culkin told E! News that he and Brenda Song enjoy making the holidays magical for their sons. Cukin said that when he traveled for Home Alone screenings, “I told them that I’m at Santa’s workshop fixing toys, because that’s what I do for them at home. I’m so good that Santa Claus called me up to the North Pole. They’re totally fine with that.” Kieran Culkin might not have been clued into Home Alone‘s plot, but I doubt his brother’s kids will ever forget the Christmases they spend with their parents.
As for Kardashian, this isn’t the first time she’s ventured into singing. In 2011, she put out “Jam (Turn It Up),” and as Variety pointed out, she sang “Santa Baby” in Keeping Up with the Kardashians season 3.
It might seem a bit jarring to see a grown-up Culkin playing Santa since, for ’90s kids like myself, he will always be the adorable goofy kid eating ice cream and plotting revenge on the Sticky Bandits. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I’m going to try to forget about this awkward video and keep watching Home Alone and Home Alone 2 instead.
Published: Dec 23, 2024 02:59 pm