Mickey Rourke wishes people would take their money back, please
Mickey Rourke is doubling down on his disgust over a fundraiser that quickly raised more than $100,000 on his behalf, calling it an embarrassing βscamβ and a βvicious cruel lieβ and promising βsevere repercussions to [the] individual who did this very bad thingβ to him.
At the same time, the fundraiser β aimed at keeping Rourke in his home when he faced eviction because of almost $60,000 in unpaid rent β has been taken down, with the actorβs name being used now by others to boost their more anonymous efforts.
(A Friday morning search for βMickey Rourkeβ on GoFundMe yielded more than a dozen campaigns drafting off the search value of the actorβs high-profile situation but the campaign set up for the β9Β½ Weeksβ actor was nowhere to be found.)
The GoFundMe had been placed on pause last week after more than $100,000 was raised in two days, with Rourkeβs manager Kimberly Hines writing, βThank you so much for your generosity and for standing with Mickey during this time. Your support truly means a great deal to us, and we are grateful for every donation. We remain committed to finding a resolution and are working with Mickey to determine the next steps.β
Rejecting the donations, Rourke called the fundraiser βhumiliatingβ and βreally fβ embarrassingβ in a video posted last week, saying he didnβt need the money.
βI wouldnβt know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years,β said the actor, 73, who was a leading man in the 1980s with movies including βBarflyβ and βAngel Heartβ and was Oscar-nominated for his work in 2008βs βThe Wrestler.β βMy life is very simple and I donβt go to outside sources like that.β
He said later in the video that he βwould never ask strangers or fans for a nickel. Thatβs not my style.β
Hines might disagree, as she said sheβs the one who has been fronting the money to cover Rourkeβs move out of the Beverly Grove house and into a hotel and subsequently into a Koreatown apartment.
Hinesβ assistantβs name had been listed as the creator of the fundraiser, with Hines named as the beneficiary. The actorβs manager of nine years told the Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 6 that Rourke knew the origins of the effort, despite saying he did not: She and her assistant had run the idea past his assistant before it was launched, she said, and both teams were OK with it.
βNobodyβs trying to grift Mickey. I want him working. I donβt want him doing a GoFundMe,β Hines told THR. βThe good thing about this is that he got four movie offers since yesterday. People are emailing him movie offers now, which is great because nobodyβs been calling him for a long time.β
But Rourke was still fretting over it Thursday on Instagram, where he said in a couple of posts that there was still more than $90,000 to be returned to his supporters and promised that his attorney was βdoing everything in his powerβ to make sure people got their βhard earned moneyβ back.
He also thanked some βgreatβ friends who he said reached out after seeing the βscamβ that he needed money, including UFC boss Dana White and fighter Bill βSuperfootβ Wallace.
Rourke said in his Jan. 6 video, shot while he was staying at a hotel, βIβm grateful for what I have. Iβve got a roof over my head, Iβve got food to eat. … Everythingβs OK. Just get your money back, please. I donβt need anybodyβs money, and I wouldnβt do it this way. Iβve got too much pride. This ainβt my style.β