Earlier this year, the news broke that, facing eviction from his Los Angeles home, Iron Man 2 star Mickey Rourke had launched a GoFundMe to ask fans to help him pay nearly $60,000 in back rent.
While donations quickly added up to nearly $100,000, there was some backlash on social media, and Rourke later condemned the whole thing, denying direct involvement. Later, we learned that the GoFundMe was set up by Liya-Joelle Jones, an assistant to Kimberly Hines, Rourke's manager for the past decade.
As far as we're aware, the campaign was shut down, and the money was returned to everyone who donated. Now, though, the actor has been officially evicted after the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled in favour of Rourke's landlord in an unlawful detainer case.
Rourke's landlord, Eric T. Goldie, was granted possession of the Drexel Avenue property after Rourke neither responded to the complaint nor appeared to defend himself. The court cancelled the rental agreement, and Rourke's lease was forfeited, meaning he can no longer legally live there.
Goldie's claim was for possession of his home, not the $59,100 owed him as of December. While Rourke is seemingly destitute, it's hard to imagine him not setting out to at least try to reclaim such a huge sum of money.
"Something's come up that I'm really frustrated, confused, and I don't understand," the Sin City star said in January. "Somebody set up some kind of foundation or fund for me to donate money. A charity."
"And that's not me. If I needed money, I wouldn't ask for no charity. I'd rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger. Whoever did this, I don't know why they did it. I wouldn't know what a GoFundMe is in a million years."
I did a terrible job managing my career. I wasn't very diplomatic. I had to go to 20 years of therapy to get over that. But I'm not that person anymore," he continued. "I would never ask strangers or fans for a nickel. It's not my style. You ask anybody who knows me. It's humiliating and f***ing embarrassing. I want you to get your money back. All things will pass."
Hines later said that Rourke had been moved out of his house and is now residing in a West Hollywood Hotel, confirming, "If Mickey doesn’t want this money now and decides, 'I don’t want help, it’s like it’s charity,' the money will be returned."
Stay tuned for updates on this developing story as we have them.