Actor Mickey Rourke has distanced himself from the GoFundMe reportedly set up with his blessing to help him pay rent.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed the GoFundMe, which was being used to raise money to pay $59,100 in owed rent after the 73-year-old star of Sin City and Iron Man 2 had received an eviction notice from his Los Angeles rental home.
The fundraiser was set up by his longtime manager allegedly with Rourke's permission. But in a video posted to Instagram, below, Rourke said he wasn’t behind the GoFundMe, called on fans who have already donated to get their money back, and threatened legal action. At the time of this article's publication, $97,609 was raised of the GoFundMe's $100,000 target from 2,600 donations.
“Something’s come up that I’m really frustrated, confused and I don’t understand,” Rourke said. “Somebody set up some kind of foundation or fund for me to donate money, like charity. And that’s not me, OK? If I needed money I wouldn’t ask for no f***ing charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger. So whoever did this... I don’t know why they did it. I don't understand it. I wouldn’t know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years. My life is very simple. I don't go to outside sources like that.”
He continued: “Yeah, it is embarassing, but I'm sure I'll get over it like anything else." Rourke went on to admit he’d done a “terrible job” managing his career, and confirmed a friend had lent him money. “Eventually, I’ll say who it was,” he said. “He helped me out of a jam. Covid and the writer’s strike killed my money.”
"Don’t give any money," he told his fans. "And if you gave money, get it back. I’m going to talk to my lawyer… and get to the bottom of this.”
He then described the situation he found himself in with a prior rental home (presumably the one he moved out of before renting the home at which he was threatened with eviction), making a number of accusations about the conditions he was living in.
“I was in a really bad situation with the place I was renting. Everything was good for five or six years and then two scumbags from New York bought the house and they wouldn’t fix anything," he said. "So I said, 'I’m not paying rent because there’s mice, there’s rats. The floor’s rotten. One bathtub, there’s no water. In two different sinks, there was no water.'
"But I would never ask strangers or fans or anybody for a nickel. That's not my style. It's humiliating and it's really f***ing embarassing. They said it's up to $100,000. I wouldn't take a f***ing nickel of charity from anybody. So we'll get to the bottom of this, and like all storms, it will pass. And I'll go to work and things will get back to whatever normal is."
He then said he was “very grateful” for what he currently has. “I got a roof over my head. I’ve got food to eat,” he said, before holding a banana skin up to the camera. "Everything's ok, just get your money back. Please. I don't need anybody's money, and I wouldn't do it this way. I got too much pride, man."
Deadline has reported that the GoFundMe’s creator is Liya-Joelle Jones, assistant to Rourke’s manager of nine years, Kimberly Hines. Hines confirmed her team was behind the page, which they created to help Rourke after he was served an eviction notice last month, and moved the actor to a local hotel.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Rourke signed the lease on his three-bedroom, two-bathroom home, in March 2025 for $5,200 per month. It was later raised to $7,000 per month. According to the publication, Rourke received a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate the premises mid-December, but failed to comply.
Rourke was ejected from Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2025 due to inappropriate language and behavior that he later admitted, including remarks about the sexuality of his fellow contestant JoJo Siwa. “I’m ashamed of myself,” he said at the time. His manager later announced he would take legal action against the reality show, claiming its producers “were fully aware of both his public persona and how it aligned with his Hollywood rebel image,” but had refused to pay his full agreed fee after his exit.
Photo by Panayotis Tzamaros/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/mickey-rourke-distances-himself-from-gofundme-says-id-rather-stick-a-gun-up-my-ass-and-pull-the-trigger-than-ask-fans-for-money