Hollywood star Mickey Rourke has told fans he is not behind a “humiliating” fundraising website set up to support him – and urged well-wishers to try and get their money back as the total reached almost $100,000.
The Oscar-nominated actor and former boxer shared a video statement on Instagram saying he was “really frustrated” and “confused” by the page, titled “Help Mickey Rourke Stay in His Home”, which was set up on crowdfunding platform GoFundMe over the weekend.
“Somebody set up some kind of foundation or fund for me, to donate money, like in a charity, and that’s not me,” Rourke told his 488,000 followers, saying he did not know who was behind it.
“If I needed money I wouldn’t ask for no f***ing charity.”
The GoFundMe page said Rourke was facing a “very real and urgent situation: the threat of eviction from his home”.
The page organiser is listed as Liya-Joelle Jones, an assistant to Rourke’s manager, Kimberly Hines, and its description said it had been set up with his “full permission to help cover immediate housing-related expenses” and prevent eviction from happening.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported on the fundraiser, Jones told the outlet Rourke was “going through a very difficult time right now” and it had been “incredibly touching to see how many people care about him and want to help”.
Sat with his dog, Lucky, in his video, Rourke denied having anything to do with the page and said he was going to talk to his lawyer to “get to the bottom of this”.
The 73-year-old admitted he had done a “really terrible job” in managing his career, but said after years of therapy, he has “worked very hard” and is “not that wild man” of his past.
The actor was known for films including 9 1/2 Weeks, Rumble Fish and The Pope of Greenwich Village in the 1980s, and continued to act while also pursuing his boxing career in the 1990s. In 2008, he starred in The Wrestler – a performance that earned him a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination for best actor.
In 2025, he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, but was kicked out of the house over “use of inappropriate language” and “instances of unacceptable behaviour”. He caused upset in the house from the start and made former Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa cry after making comments about her sexuality.
In his video, Rourke said COVID and the Hollywood strikes in 2023 had “killed” his money, and he had previously been in a “bad situation” with his rent.
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However, he described the fundraising page as “very embarrassing”, and told fans: “Don’t give any money, and if you gave money, get it back…
“I would never ask strangers or fans or anybody for a nickel. That’s not my style. You ask anyone who knows me. It’s humiliating and it’s really f***ing embarrassing.”
He told fans he is “grateful for what I have – I’ve got a roof over my head, I’ve got food to eat… everything’s okay”, and added: “Get your money back, please, I don’t need anybody’s money and I wouldn’t do it this way, I’ve got too much pride.”
Sky News has contacted Hines and representatives for Rourke for comment.
