Mickey Rourke turns to GoFundMe to raise funds for unpaid rent after eviction notice

Mickey Rourke appears to have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise about $60,000 for rent he owes on his Los Angeles home after being threatened with eviction.

The actor and former professional boxer, 73, whose birth name is Philip Andre Rourke Jr, received a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate the premises on 18 December and failed to comply, according to documents filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court.

At the time the notice was issued, Rourke allegedly owed $59,100 (£44,003).

The fundraiser, titled “Help Mickey Rourke Stay in His Home”, was launched on Sunday with a target of $100,000 (£74,456), according to the campaign page.

“Mickey Rourke entered American cinema like a force of nature – raw, fearless, and utterly original. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he wasn’t just a movie star; he was a symbol of something rare: danger paired with vulnerability, toughness paired with heart,” the description of the fundraiser states.

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It goes on to say that the fundraiser was created with “Mickey’s full permission to help cover immediate housing-related expenses and prevent that from happening”.

The description explains that after Rourke left acting for boxing, he was left with “lasting physical and emotional scars”.

“Fame does not protect against hardship, and talent does not guarantee stability. What remains is a person who deserves dignity, housing, and the chance to regain his footing. The goal is simple: 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.”

At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $36,278 (£27,011).

The Independent has contacted Rourke’s representatives for comment.

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Rourke leased the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath house for $5,200 (£3,871) per month in March, which later increased to $7,000 (£5,211), according to court filings.

The property’s owner, Eric Goldie, is requesting compensation for attorney’s fees and damages.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the GoFundMe was started by a friend and member of Rourke’s management team, Liya-Joelle Jones, who told the outlet: “Mickey is going through a very difficult time right now, and it’s been incredibly touching to see how many people care about him and want to help.”

Rourke emerged as one of Hollywood’s most compelling young actors in the early 1980s, building a reputation for intense, magnetic performances in films such as Body Heat (1981) and Barry Levinson’s ensemble dramedy Diner (1982). That early promise quickly translated into leading roles, most notably in Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish (1983) and the gritty New York drama The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), where his intensity became a defining trait.

He became a bona fide star with 9½ Weeks (1986) and Angel Heart (1987), but made an unusual pivot at the height of his film career. In 1991, he stepped away from acting to pursue professional boxing after clashes with directors and erratic behaviour.

During his time in the ring, Rourke suffered multiple injuries, including a broken nose, fractured ribs and toes, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone.

“I lost everything. My house, my wife, my credibility, my career,” he told The Times in an interview in 2008. “I just had all this anger from my childhood, which was really shame, not anger, and used it as armour and machismo to cover up my wounds. Unfortunately, the way I acted really frightened people, although it was really just me who was scared. But I was like this person who was short-circuited, and I didn’t know how to fix myself.”

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He made his comeback in 2008, portraying an ageing, washed-up wrestler named Randy “The Ram” Robinson in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which earned him Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for lead actor.

The role failed to spark a significant career comeback, and in 2025, the New York-born actor appeared on Celebrity Big Brother UK, where he revealed he had to borrow $500,000 from the bank amid the Covid pandemic and the actors’ strike.

Controversy surrounding the star began immediately after he “ogled” CBB presenter AJ Odudu, and he faced calls to be dropped after making homophobic comments to Dance Moms star Jojo Siwa.

The actor’s six-day run in the house came to an abrupt end after “threatening and aggressive” behaviour towards Love Island star Chris Hughes and the use of “inappropriate sexual language” towards Towie star Ella Mae Wise.

He was reportedly paid £500,000 for his three-week stint on the show, but the fee was dramatically reduced to £50,000 after he was kicked off, according to The Sun.

ITV did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment at the time.