Mickey Rourke dished out more than $60,000 in unpaid rent after turning down $100,000 in offers.
A judge recently issued an eviction order against actor Mickey Rourke who, despite owing nearly $60,000 in unpaid rent on his Beverly Grove home, turned down more than $100,000 raised in a GoFundMe campaign organized by his manager to keep him out.
On Monday, a judge ruled in favor of Rourke’s landlord, Eric Goldie, to foreclose and terminate the lease, according to Los Angeles Superior Court documents. The default judgment means that Rourke failed to take action to defend the eviction complaint within the time allowed by law.
Rourke, who was a leading man in the 1980s with movies including “Barfly” and “Angel Heart” and was later nominated for an Oscar for his role in 2008’s “The Wrestler,” was given a three-day notice to pay rent or leave the property on Dec. 18 and failed to comply, according to Angeles Superior Court documents.
On December 29, the landlord filed for eviction, saying Rourke owed him $59,100 in rent at a rent of $7,000 a month.
In January, Rourke’s management team set up a GoFundMe to help keep the actor in his home, with his representative Kimberly Hines listed as a beneficiary. Hines did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
“Mickey Rourke is an icon – but his legacy, like his pain, is also deeply human,” read the description of the GoFundMe that has since been closed. “The story of a man who gave his all to his work, took risks, and paid the real cost. Fame does not protect against hardship, and talent does not guarantee stability. What remains is a man who deserves dignity, a place to live, and a chance to regain his position.”
Fans quickly rallied to support the 73-year-old, with some 2,700,000 donors raising more than $100,000 over three days.
But Rourke refused to accept the money, criticizing the campaign in a Jan video. 5 posted on his Instagram as “humiliating” and said that he would rather shoot himself (in an obvious way) than accept charity.
Rourke said he’s “in a really bad situation” after the new owners bought the house he’d been renting for years and won’t fix anything. “I said I don’t pay the rent, because there are rats, there are mice, the floor is rotten, there is no water in one bathtub,” he said in the video.
The “Iron Man 2” actor said he did not know who started the GoFundMe but assured fans that he would talk to his lawyer and make it public. He then appealed repeatedly that anyone who donated their money be returned.
Hines, his manager of nine years, previously told The Hollywood Reporter that it’s not true that he doesn’t know who started the fundraiser, noting that he and his assistant ran the idea past Rourke’s assistant and everyone agreed it would be helpful.
“Nobody’s trying to bully Mickey. I want him to work. I don’t want him to do a GoFundMe,” Hines told THR in January. He said he planned to move her out of the Koreatown apartment, noting that the Beverly Grove home had extensive water damage and black mold.
An attorney for the property owner did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Tuesday.
Times staff writer Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.
