Mickey Rourke ‘ashamed’ after getting tossed from ‘Celebrity Big Brother’

After getting into a much-publicized dustup with JoJo Siwa, Mickey Rourke’s last gasp effort to win back fans with an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother has come to a grinding halt.

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The onetime movie star was booted out of the house after he made “threatening and aggressive” gestures to fellow contestant Chris Hughes.

Rourke, 72, was asked to leave the show following his use of “inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour.”

“Mickey Rourke has agreed to leave the Celebrity Big Brother house this evening following a discussion with Big Brother regarding further use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour,” a spokesperson for the reality spinoff told Variety.

“I’m sorry. I can’t take it back, you know, I stepped over the line and I take responsibility for doing the wrong thing,” Rourke said in a now-deleted exit video that was posted to YouTube, according to Variety. “Because I lost my temper, and I’ve been trying to work on it my whole life. And I wish I would have had better self-control and I’m very sorry. I’m ashamed of myself for losing it for a few seconds there.” 

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Rourke said that while no one got hurt his reaction showed that he hasn’t learned to control his “short fuse.”

“I blame myself. I know it was my bad, you know, I’ve got a short fuse. I know I upset a lot of people out there. I’m sorry for that. I’m actually ashamed of myself for getting that hot. I went over the line … I did wrong. I guess I could say I’m a work in progress,” he said.

Rourke found himself making headlines last week when he was accused of “homophobic” behaviour inside the Big Brother house while speaking to Siwa.

In a clip posted by the show’s official X page that was viewed more than a million times, Rourke was seen getting into a back-and-forth with the Dance Moms alum.

The Wrestler star asked Siwa, 21, if she liked boys or girls. “Me? Girls,” she replied. “My partner (Kath Ebbs) is non-binary.”

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Rourke said that if he lasted on the competition “longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”

“I can guarantee I’ll still be gay,” the Dancing with the Stars second-place finisher shot back. “And I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”

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As he mingled with the other contestants, Rourke could be heard saying that he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick.”

Rourke then said, “I need a f**,” and gestured at Siwa and added, “I’m not talking to you.”

According to the BBC, producers pulled Rourke into the Diary Room confessional and warned him over his comments, which they called “offensive and unacceptable.” 

When Siwa told Rourke that what he said was “not an acceptable word,”  he apologized, saying, “I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse. And I don’t mean nothing by it.”

Siwa’s partner, Kath Ebbs, slammed Rourke as his comments went viral, calling him a “dangerous person” and a “pig.”

Rourke’s rep, Kimberly Hines, downplayed his actions in a statement to Us Weekly saying that the actor “speaks from his heart and means well.”

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But his Girl co-star Bella Thorne then added to Rourke’s troubles when she accused him of on-set misconduct during filming of their 2020 thriller.

In messages posted to X, the 27-year-old OnlyFans star said that “working with Mickey was one of the all-time worst experiences of my life working as an actress.”

“I had to work with this man – in a scene where I’m on my knees with my hands zip-tied around my back. He’s supposed to take a metal grinder to my knee cap and instead he used it on my genitals thru my jeans. Hitting them over and over again,” Thorne wrote. “I had bruises on my pelvic bone.”

Thorne alleged he made her go through “so many gross … things” while they were making the movie and that “he thought it was funny to humiliate me in front of the entire crew.”

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Rourke’s rep once again denied any intentional misconduct, telling Variety, “He was not made aware of any such concerns during filming and had no prior knowledge of Ms. Thorne’s discomfort until now.”

During his brief stint on Celebrity Big Brother, Rourke, who was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s with roles in Diner, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Angel Heart, admitted he had fallen out of favour with audiences.

“I’ve made mistakes, many. I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself. My career is in the toilet and I’m not getting A-list movies,” he admitted to his fellow housemates.

Rourke also conceded that money troubles led to him turning to reality TV.

“Two years of COVID, then a seven-month actors’ strike, I had to borrow half a million dollars from the bank to get by and pay bills,” he said.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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