Mickey Rourke is catching heat for homophobic comments directed at JoJo Siwa.
According to Deadline, the incident went down this week in the Celebrity Big Brother UK house, where Rourke, Siwa, and 11 other contestants are fighting for a cash prize. During Wednesday’s episode, Rourke asked the Dance Moms alum if she liked “girls or boys.” Siwa, who came out as gay in early 2021, told her housemate she “liked” the former, to which Rourke responded, “I know. I can tell.”
Later that day, Rourke suggested Siwa would turn straight if he made it past the upcoming elimination: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”
“I can guarantee I’ll still be gay,” replied Siwa, who is dating non-binary DJ/queer advocate Kath Ebbs. “And I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
But the uncomfortable exchange didn’t stop there. Rourke went on to tell the other contestants he planned to “vote the lesbian out” — a remark that Siwa immediately challenged.
“That’s homophobic if that’s your reasoning,” Siwa called out from across the yard.
Rourke later announced he needed “a f-g,” while apparently gesturing toward Siwa. Contestant Chris Hughes quickly defended Siwa, telling The Wrestler actor he “couldn’t say that.”
“I know. I was talking about a cigarette,” Rourke said, referring to the British slang term for a cigarette.
Siwa got tearful after the exchange, which led production to discipline Rourke. The 72-year-old actor was summoned to the “Diary Room” and given a warning about his behavior.
“Big Brother thinks your language was offensive and unacceptable,” he was told. “As a result, Big Brother is giving you a formal warning. Further language or behavior of this nature could lead to you being removed from the Big Brother house.”
Rourke told producers he understood and was just “talking smack.”
“I wasn’t taking it all so serious,” he said. “I didn’t mean in it any bad intentions and if I did, sorry.”
Rourke then apologized directly to Siwa, saying he had “a habit of having a short fuse.”
“I don’t mean nothing by it,” he told Siwa. “I do mean it [sorry]. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say it to you.”
Rourke’s representative, Kimberly Hines, addressed the controversy in a statement to Us Weekly, claiming her client “speaks from his heart and means well.”
“He is old school, direct, and honest,” Hines told the outlet. “I have worked closely with him for nine years, and he is 100 percent authentically himself. There will never be another Mickey Rourke. Period.”
