Actor Mickey Rourke has denied any involvement in setting up a GoFundMe page that was allegedly created to help him avoid eviction.
“Somebody set up some kind of foundation or fund for me to donate money, like in a charity, and that’s not me, OK?” Rourke said in a video posted to Instagram on Monday. “If I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no f—ing charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my a– and pull the trigger.”
Rourke, 73, who was holding his dog Lucky while recording the video, said he was “confused” and “frustrated.”
“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,” Rourke continued. “My life is very simple. I don’t go to outside sources like that. And yeah, it is embarrassing, but I’m sure I’ll get over it like anything else.”
The GoFundMe page, which was organized by Liya-Joelle Jones, the assistant to Rourke’s manager, Kimberly Hines, has now raised more than its goal of US$100,000. Donations are now paused.
The donation page description claimed that “Mickey Rourke is an icon—but his trajectory, as painful as it is, is also a deeply human one. It is the story of someone who gave everything to his work, took real risks, and paid real costs.”
It also stated that the goal of the fundraiser was to “give Mickey 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.”
In his video, Rourke said he’s “done a really terrible job” of managing his career.
“I wasn’t very diplomatic. I had to go over 20 years of therapy to get over the damage that was done to me years ago,” Rourke said on Monday. “I worked very hard to work through that and I’m not that person anymore, but I can’t be the one to say that — you gotta talk to the last several people I’ve worked with. Talk to Robert Rodriguez, talk to Francis [Ford] Coppola, talk to Darren Aronofsky. I’m not that wild man that I was 20-something years ago, but you pay the price for your past.”
The GoFundMe page claimed that it was launched with the Oscar-nominated actor’s “full permission,” and asked fans to “help Mickey Rourke stay in his home.”
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But that’s not the case, according to Rourke, who said he plans to speak with his lawyers.
“This thing is very embarrassing. And if you’ve given any money — don’t give any money and if you gave money, get it back, whether you gave cash or cheque or whoever you sent it to,” Rourke said. “I’m going to talk to my lawyer whenever. I hate talking to him. I’ve had him forever and I love him. But I’m going to talk to Bill and get to the bottom of this.”
Rourke said there’s only one person he can think of “that would do such a thing,” but didn’t identify them.
“I hope it’s not the person I’m thinking about but it’s humiliating. If I needed money — and I did borrow some money from a really great friend of mine. Eventually, I’ll say who it was… and he helped me out of a jam. You know, COVID and the writer’s strike killed my money,” Rourke said.
He also shared details about the legal situation regarding his rent after he received a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate the premises on Dec. 18, 2025, and failed to comply, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and viewed by the Los Angeles Times.
“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,” Rourke alleged. “I said I’m not paying rent because there’s mice, there’s rats, the floor was rotten…. We’re going to go to court but I would never ask strangers or fans or anybody for a nickel. I mean, that’s not my style. You ask anybody that knows me, it’s humiliating and it’s really f—ing embarrassing.”
Rourke told his fans he’s “very grateful for what I have” and assured them that he has “a roof over my head.”
“Just get your money back, please,” Rourke concluded. “I don’t need anybody’s money and I wouldn’t do it this way. I got too much pride, man.”
Rourke’s manager Hines told Deadline that her team created the page “in an act of desperation” after Rourke was served with an eviction notice.
“We’re trying to do the best that we can,” Hines said. “My assistant started it to help Mickey as a nice gesture because he was being forced out of his home.”
Hines said the GoFundMe “was not done with any mal intent.”
“The money has not gone anywhere. If Mickey decides he does not want it, the money will be returned to his fans,” she added.
As of this writing, GoFundMe has not commented publicly on the Rourke fundraiser.
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