Are Pedro Pascal and Kieran Culkin Really Feuding? Their Awards Season Joke Explained

UPDATE, 1/5/25 at 8:29 p.m. ET:

Kieran Culkin is at it again, reigniting his playful feud with Pedro Pascal for another awards season. Except, the actors are not going head-to-head this year.

“Is he here tonight? Oh he’s not? Sorry, Pedro, were you not nominated this year?” Culkin quipped while talking with Variety on the 2025 Golden Globes red carpet on Sunday, January 5. “Next year. Maybe next year. When I won’t be.”

Pascal, for his part, posted a photo via Instagram Stories from a tropical location ahead of the awards ceremony.

Culkin did make it clear that he does find Pascal to be a “lovely man” during Sunday’s red carpet and noted that he wants to work with The Last of Us star in the future.

Original story continues below:

Kieran Culkin and Pedro Pascal have referenced their “feud” multiple times during awards season, but what’s really going on?

The drama began when Culkin, 41, called out Pascal, 48, during his Golden Globes speech earlier this month while accepting the trophy for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series — Drama for his role as Roman Roy in Succession.

“I was nominated for a Golden Globe, like, 20 years ago, and when that moment passed, I sort of remember thinking, ‘I’m never going to be back in this room again.’ Which was fine, whatever,” Culkin said on January 7. “But thanks to Succession, I’ve been in here a couple times. It’s nice, but I sort of accepted I was never going to be on this stage, so this is a nice moment. Suck it, Pedro. Sorry. Mine!”

Pascal was nominated in the same category for his performance as Joel Miller in The Last of Us. After Culkin made his joke, the camera panned to Pascal, who pretended to cry over the dig.

A little over a week later, the men came head-to-head a second time at the Emmy Awards on January 15. This time, Pascal had the upper hand when presenting Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. (Matthew Macfadyen took home the award for his role as Tom Wambsgans in Succession.)

“I’d like to just take a second and make this about me,” Pascal, whose right arm was in a sling, joked while taking the stage. “A lot of people have been asking about my arm. It’s actually my shoulder, and I think tonight is a perfect time to tell everyone that Kieran Culkin beat the s–t out of me.”

The crowd laughed as the camera panned to Culkin, who had a rather serious look on his face. Pascal also started to laugh while announcing the nominees, and Culkin eventually broke out into a smile.

After the Emmy Awards came to an end, however, Culkin and Pascal put any feud rumors to rest during the afterparties. The duo were photographed hanging out during HBO and Max’s reception. Pascal even included a selfie with Culkin in his January 16 photo roundup from the awards show.

While Culkin didn’t actually have a physical altercation with Pascal, there hasn’t been much information to go on when it comes to the nature of Pascal’s arm — ahem, shoulder — injury.

“I fell!” he told reporters on the Golden Globes red carpet. “Be careful. It can happen to anybody.”

Pascal and Culkin faced off once again at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards in February, where they were both nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. During the February 24 awards show, Pascal came out victorious and Culkin applauded his win.

“I’m gonna make out with Kieran, that’ll be my revenge. I did know him [before this awards circuit], he is the greatest,” Pascal said in his post-victory speech, talking about their history with host Tan France. “I can remember years and years ago, taking one of my siblings to FAO Schwarz … and he came up to me and complimented me on my work in this play.”

He continued, “It’s been amazing to see him in this show and I feel guilty about not seeing his speech tonight, but he’ll be fine. But, I got to give things a fair amount of balance.”

Pascal continued the lovefest in a series of post-SAG Awards interviews, even telling Access Hollywood that he voted for Culkin to win the trophy. “If anything I should thank the male members of that cast for creating the opportunity for me to up my numbers, I guess,” Pascal said. “I voted for Kieran!”

The actor was unprepared to accept the SAG Award, revealing he had been drinking because he didn’t think he’d have to give a speech. However, he told Access that the party wasn’t over after the show. Pascal referred to himself and Culkin as “besties” and said they planned to celebrate together at afterparties.