Mickey Rourke Slams GoFundMe Efforts to Prevent Eviction, Says He Would ‘Never’ Ask Fans ‘For a Nickel’

Mickey Rourke is speaking out after a $100,00 GoFundMe campaign was launched on his behalf to help prevent him from being evicted.

Last month, the 73-year-old actor and former wrestler was served a notice to pay the $59,100 in back rent he allegedly owes or vacate his Los Angeles property within three days. The crowdfunding drive was then started to “help cover immediate housing-related expenses” and “prevent” him from losing his home.

In a video shared to his Instagram profile on Monday, Jan. 5, Rourke addressed the campaign and claimed he had no knowledge of it.

He said he was “frustrated,” “confused” and didn’t understand why someone created a GoFundMe campaign on his behalf.

“That’s not me, okay?” he continued. “I’d rather, if I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no f—– charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger.”

Referencing “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.”

The campaign was started by a woman named Liya-Joelle Jones, who described herself as the assistant to Kimberly Hines, who is Rourke’s manager. She said in the GoFundMe that it was “created with Mickey’s full permission.” 

Still, in Rourke’s video on Monday, he called the GoFundMe campaign “embarrassing. But I’m sure I’ll get over it like anything else.”

Reflecting on his career, Rourke said 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.”

Though he urged his supporters not to donate to the campaign, and that he plans to speak to his lawyer about it, the drive has raised more than $95,000 of its goal as of Monday evening.

“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,” the actor went on to say.

Rourke said that although he did “borrow money from a great friend of mine,” after suffering a financial setback from a rental property, he insisted he would “never ask strangers or fans or anybody for a nickel. That’s not my style.”

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For now, Rourke said he plans to go back to work and reassured fans he’s doing just fine.

He concluded by pleading with fans who donated to “get your money back. wouldn’t do it this way. I got too much pride.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Jones, Hines and GoFundMe for comment.

The property is a three-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot home, per the property’s listing on Zillow.

According to a complaint, Rourke signed the lease in March 2025 for a monthly rent of $5,200, which was later increased to $7,000.

In addition to the sum Rourke allegedly owes in past-due rent, his landlord Eric Goldie is also requesting compensation for attorney fees, the document states. The landlord is also asking for the “forfeiture” of their rental agreement.