Mickey Rourke Deserves His Downfall

Over the weekend, Mickey Rourke was finally asked to leave the British edition of Celebrity Big Brother following a string of unacceptable behaviour. The Oscar-nominated actor and accused abuser made harassing and homophobic comments towards fellow contestant Jojo Siwa. He then ‘used behaviour and language considered to be threatening and aggressive towards fellow housemate Chris Hughes,’ according to the BBC. Watching the 72-year-old creep over a 21-year-old gay woman and face no real repercussions was deeply distressing. That he was seemingly allowed to leave the show of his own accord and not forcibly removed is another reminder that society has no true consideration for protecting women.

The presence of Rourke on a low-rated reality show in the UK was not necessarily surprising but it still felt like an indignant stumble downward for a man who was once considered the leading heartthrob in Hollywood, frequently compared to Marlon Brando. Between this and his truly embarrassing appearance on The Masked Singer, wherein he essentially gave up mid-performance, Rourke’s decline is especially harsh. It plays out like a very long season of BoJack Horseman. Of course, the key difference is that BoJack was imbued with pathos, and Mickey Rourke is an irredeemable a**hole who deserves all the bad stuff flung his way.

Rourke was never known as a good guy. Even when he was at his hottest (both physically and professionally), his reputation was that of a trouble-making diva who was probably more trouble than he was worth. During his comeback, he was still known as a diva creep first and an actor second. There’s a running joke on 30 Rock about his jackassery. This was a man who was derided among industry types for being a total hassle who thought he should have complete control over everything, so once the hits stopped rolling in, he was easy to drop (that and he decided to get into boxing for a while, which didn’t help his face, although he had already allegedly dabbled in ill-advised plastic surgery before that.) Many actors cited Rourke as an inspiration, like Brad Pitt, but many at least learned the right lessons from his slide into ‘whatever happened to that guy’ status.

Somehow, despite it all, Rourke almost pulled off the comeback of the decade. Darren Aronofsky’s casting of him in The Wrestler was truly inspired. Imposing but with a heavily damaged face, weary with age but still forcing himself into the ring, Rourke’s character was a tragic creation with an evidently meta quality due to his presence. A past-his-prime former superstar forcing himself to keep moving forward, ending his sad life on something of a high note even if it comes with the ultimate price felt too real. And Rourke is undeniably great in the film. The industry was giddy to herald the long-awaited return of a talented and penitent man. Just not enough to actually give him the Oscar (Sean Penn won that year, which gives you an idea of how much of a d*ck Rourke is that he lost to Sean f**king Penn.)

He blew that opportunity too, that once-in-a-lifetime moment to be humble and put the work in, and even the most biased and wilfully blind industry figures will only accept so much. So, it’s no real surprise that Rourke’s filmography is full of B-movies, straight-to-streaming gunk, and stuff that sounds like a gag from Entourage. Also, he was in Roman Polanski’s last movie. Make of that what you will.

Watching Rourke harass Siwa and belittle her with homophobic rhetoric made me think about Carré Otis. In 1992, Rourke married the model who starred alongside him in the erotic drama Wild Orchid. In her memoir, she details a long and painful cycle of abuse, beginning with their work on said film, wherein he slapped her before a take to get a ‘real’ reaction for a scene. She also describes how Rourke threatened to kill himself with a knife if Otis didn’t agree to marry him. In 1994, Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. Otis says she had gone to the police to ask for advice on a possible restraining order against Rourke and they, against her wishes, went for the arrest. Rourke has denied these claims and compared himself to Johnny Depp by asserting that his former spouse is lying about the abuse to smear him.

After the harassment of Siwa, actress Bella Thorne came forward on Instagram to share her own horrific story involving working with Rourke. She alleged that, during the shooting of the 2020 film Girl, he bruised her genitals with a metal grinder in a scene where her hands were tied behind her back. Thorne then had to take it upon herself to ‘go in his trailer absolutely alone’ and convince him to finish the movie after he made a bunch of diva demands. It’s no wonder that she describes this shoot as one of the most humiliating experiences of her life.

It’s embarrassing that Rourke was even invited to be on Celebrity Big Brother given the well-detailed and easy-to-locate allegations made against him by his ex-wife. At the very least, following his harassment of Siwa, he should have been kicked out. One can only assume that the producers thought he’d be worth the hassle for the sake of ratings (which are currently at a series low.) It all highlights a grander problem: how many chances does a bully, diva, and accused abuser get before the powers that be finally say enough is enough? Even if this were the Mickey Rourke of the ’80s, the one with some critical acclaim and a decent face, it wouldn’t be worth it. It certainly wasn’t worth it for Carré Otis.

Being the greatest actor in the world wouldn’t balance out Rourke’s abuses, cruelties, and diva nonsense. The fact that he’s a has-been who has long given up on even trying but still acts as though he’s an A-Lister just makes his continuing presence in our cultural landscape even more inexplicable. Maybe some people are still mourning the Rourke who once was, but that image was already a myth that carefully concealed a man who allegedly threatened to kill himself if his girlfriend didn’t marry him. He’s in the cesspool of his own making and, quite frankly, he could sink lower.