Mickey Rourke has slammed a 100k GoFundMe campaign set up in his name to help prevent his eviction, calling it ‘humiliating.’
The Oscar-nominated actor, 73, was served a notice last month to pay $59,100 in back rent he allegedly owes on his Los Angeles property within three days, or risk eviction.
On Sunday, a fundraiser was launched by a woman named Liya-Joelle Jones, who said she works as an assistant to Rourke’s manager, Kimberly Hines. Jones claimed the GoFundMe was created with Rourke’s ‘full permission.’
As of Monday night, the campaign has raised $96,881 of its $100,000 goal.
But in a new Instagram video, shared to Rourke’s page on Monday, he insisted he’d never accept ‘charity’ — despite claiming the house had ‘rotten’ floors and was infested with rats — and he denied knowing about the fundraiser.
Clad in a bright pink T-shirt, the Sin City star said he was ‘confused’ and ‘frustrated’ by the situation, adding, ‘If I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no f*****g charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my a** and pull the trigger.’
Mickey Rourke, 73, has slammed a $100,000 GoFundMe campaign set up in his name to help prevent his eviction, calling it ‘humiliating’
On Sunday, a fundraiser was launched by a woman named Liya-Joelle Jones, who said she works as an assistant to Rourke’s manager, Kimberly Hines. Jones claimed the GoFundMe was created with Rourke’s ‘full permission’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Rourke’s representative for comment.
Speaking of ‘whoever did this,’ Rourke added, ‘I wouldn’t know what a GoFundMe foundation is in a million years. My life is very simple, I wouldn’t go to outside sources like that.’
He went on to call the campaign ’embarrassing’ but added, ‘I’m sure I’ll get over it like anything else.’
The actor — who’s said to be ‘rich poor’ and living ‘paycheck-to-paycheck’ — also reflected back on his career, stating he has ‘done a really terrible job’ in managing it.
‘I wasn’t diplomatic. I had to go to over 20 years of therapy to get over the damage that was done to me years ago. I worked very hard to work through that. I’m not that person anymore,’ he said.
He then urged his supporters not to donate to the campaign, and that if they donated to request a refund.
Rourke then shared that he is planning to speak to his lawyer about the situation.
The actor insisted he would get to the bottom of the situation, as he speculated on who is behind the campaign.
Mickey insisted he’d never accept ‘charity’ and denied having knowledge of the fundraiser in a new video shared to his Instagram on Monday
Clad in a bright pink t-shirt, the Sin City star said he was ‘frustrated’ by the situation, adding, ‘If I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no f*****g charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my a** and pull the trigger’
‘There’s only one person I can think of that would do such a thing, and I hope it’s not the person I’m thinking about. It’s humiliating,’ he said.
The actor admitted that he did ‘borrow money from a great friend of mine’ amid his financial woes, and said he will eventually reveal who it was.
However, he insisted that he would ‘never ask strangers or fans or anybody for a nickel. That’s not my style.’
He also claimed that he stopped paying rent because his house has ‘mice’ and ‘rats,’ adding that the ‘floor is rotten’ and one bathtub and two different sinks get ‘no water.’
Rourke assured his fans that he was fine and concluded the clip by saying ‘get your money back,’ adding that he ‘wouldn’t do it this way. I got too much pride.’
The fundraiser went live online early Sunday with the title ‘Support Mickey to Prevent Eviction,’ with an adjacent caption playing up the entertainer’s decades in Hollywood in hopes of persuading potential donors to contribute in his reported time of need.
‘Mickey gave audiences performances that felt lived-in, not performed, and left a permanent mark on American film culture,’ Jones wrote, noting his appearances in motion pictures such as Diner, Rumble Fish and 9½ Weeks.
Jones explained that Rourke ‘is facing a very real and urgent situation’ in the form of ‘the threat of eviction from his home’ as he deals with financial difficulties, according to the post.
As of Monday night, the campaign has raised $96,881 of its 100k goal
Said Jones: ‘Fame does not protect against hardship, and talent does not guarantee stability.’
‘What remains is a person who deserves dignity, housing, and the chance to regain his footing.’
Jones said that the aim of the fundraising effort for Rourke was to provide him with ‘stability and peace of mind during an extremely stressful time – so he can stay in his home and have the space to get back on his feet.’
On Monday, it was reported the actor checked into an upscale hotel as he battles eviction from his Los Angeles home.
The former Hollywood heartthrob is reportedly staying at a star-favored West Hollywood hotel where rooms start at $550 a night, according to Page Six.
That same day, two men were also seen at Rourke’s home moving bags filled with clothes and a suitcase into a truck.
The GoFundMe comes a month after a landlord demanded Rourke settle up $59,100 in unpaid rent, or leave the domicile immediately, according to documents reviewed by the Daily Mail.
The Angel Heart actor on December 18 was presented with a three-day notice to pay or leave, according to a legal complaint from plaintiff Eric T. Goldie.
On Monday, two men were seen at Rourke’s Los Angeles home moving bags filled with clothes and a suitcase, and loading it into a truck
Rourke, whose full name is Philip Rourke Jr., has resided in the three-bedroom Southern California home since March 30, at which time he inked a lease agreeing to pay monthly rent of $5,200.
Goldie said in the legal complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court December 29, that the actor has ‘failed to comply with the requirements of’ the order he was given to settle up or move out.
Goldie also asked the court to force the actor to cover the legal costs he spent in trying to recoup the rent, and for Rourke to forfeit the remainder of the rental agreement.
Jones told The Hollywood Reporter that she was moved by the early returns for the pledge drive for the Iron Man 2 actor.
‘Mickey is going through a very difficult time right now, and it’s been incredibly touching to see how many people care about him and want to help,’ said Jones.
Rourke shocked fans with his disheveled new look as he stepped out of his Los Angeles home with a shaved head and gaunt face just days earlier.
The actor was seen on New Year’s Day bearing little resemblance to the hunky silver-screen image that once made him famous, as he picked up a Taco Bell delivery outside his home.
Rourke’s once-luscious hair was gone, replaced by a nearly bald head in his latest sighting, with an insider telling the Daily Mail the actor has ‘lived the life of a rock star.’
At the height of his career in the 1980s and early 90s, Rourke was hailed as one of Hollywood’s most magnetic leading men. But by the early 90s, his career faltered and he stepped away from Hollywood to pursue professional boxing, leading to numerous injuries; Seen in 2009
Rourke has previously admitted that his career is ‘in the toilet,’ blaming his notoriously short fuse for damaging relationships with directors – a pattern of behavior that played out once again during his turbulent reality show appearance.
He told The Sun this was why he had not been landing A-list movies, and that his short temper stopped him from booking ‘movies that have integrity.’
‘I’ve made mistakes, many, I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself.’
At the height of his career in the 1980s and early ’90s, Rourke was hailed as one of Hollywood’s most magnetic and unconventional leading men with standout performances in 9½ Weeks, Angel Heart and Rumble Fish.
He earned a reputation for his brooding intensity and raw charisma, and gained respect for his serious role as the poet and alcoholic Charles Bukowski’s alter ego in the 1987 film Barfly.
But by the early ’90s, his career faltered after he stepped away from Hollywood to pursue professional boxing, leading to numerous injuries that would dramatically change his face.
The New York-born actor disclosed that he had broken his nose twice — which required five reconstructive operations — and smashed his cheekbone.
For years, Rourke’s face has attracted speculation, as many wondered if his varying looks were down to years of boxing or ‘bad surgery’.
Rourke’s hunky silver-screen image once defined his fame before multiple facial surgeries and struggles with drug and alcohol addiction altered his appearance; Pictured circa 1980
Despite his changing looks and bad reputation in Hollywood, Rourke was given another chance by Darren Aronofsky to make a major comeback.
And he delivered, with a critically acclaimed performance in The Wrestler (2008), where he played Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, an aging professional wrestler grappling with physical decline and personal regrets.
The role would earn him a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and his first — and only — Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
He would go on to act in Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Expendables (2010), but his career would fizzle out once again.
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