Actor Mickey Rourke has broken his silence on the alleged “unacceptable” living conditions that prompted him to withhold over $59,000 in rent after he defaulted in his eviction case.
The former boxer, 73, made headlines in January when it was revealed that he was being dislodged from his Los Angeles abode of more than a decade, after being accused of failing to pay over $59,100 in rent to his landlord, Eric Goldie.
According to court documents filed by Goldie, Rourke failed to comply with his eviction notice on the home, which is situated in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of L.A. and was initially leased to the actor for $5,200 a month.
On March 9, a judgment obtained by People revealed that the case had been resolved with a default judgment in favor of the landlord, who was then granted possession of the residence where Rourke was residing.
Actor Mickey Rourke has broken his silence on the alleged “unacceptable” living conditions that prompted him to withhold over $59,000 in rent after he defaulted in his eviction case. (Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The “by default” favor likely means that Rourke failed to respond or appear to defend himself, causing the property to be handed back over to Goldie, thus canceling Rourke’s rental agreement.
However, the A-lister is now working to set the record straight on why he refused to fork over the funds.
“The reason I stopped paying rent was because the living conditions in the house had become unacceptable,” he told E! News.
He claimed that there were many issues with the property that had gone ignored for months.
“For months there were serious problems that repeatedly went unaddressed despite my efforts to have them fixed,” he alleged.
The actor claimed that the problems included “ongoing rodent issues” and having to make “repeated requests for repairs” for his bathroom and plumbing.
However, despite frequent requests, the actor alleged that the issues were never addressed, adding that “basic maintenance was never properly handled.”
Rourke noted that withholding rent from Goldie was not something he took “lightly,” adding, “I simply could not continue paying for a house that was in such poor condition after so many attempts to have these issues corrected,” he claimed.
It was previously revealed that the Hollywood star turned athlete was issued notice by his landlord on Dec. 18, 2025, informing him that he had three days to either pay rent or vacate the premises.
In January, Rourke’s manager, Kimberly Hines, confirmed that Rourke left the dwelling—telling The Hollywood Reporter that he was staying in a hotel in West Hollywood until he could be moved to a more permanent residence in Koreatown.
The former boxer, 73, made headlines in January when it was revealed that he was being dislodged from his Los Angeles abode of more than a decade, after being accused of failing to pay over $59,100 in rent to his landlord, Eric Goldie. (HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
According to court documents filed by Goldie, Rourke failed to comply with his eviction notice on the home, which is situated in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of L.A. and was initially leased to the actor for $5,200 a month. (J. Lee/WireImage)
She said the process of relocating Rourke was far from easy, claiming that the locks were being changed on his former dwelling as they were trying to move his belongings out of the home—which she alleged had fallen into a state of severe disrepair in recent months.
“They were changing the locks at his house on Tuesday,” she said in the Jan. 6 interview. “We just wanted to get him out of there. He got to the hotel. We got the dogs out. We got him set up. We got what he needs for the next week. Then we organized movers. Then we got everything, all his clothing packed up. I rented a U-Haul.”
She revealed that she dispatched her assistant to Rourke’s home to help with the move—claiming that they were accompanied by a cameraman who “filmed it all,” including evidence of “black mold” as well as a lack of running water.
“So basically, we can’t even move any of the furniture out. There was water damage. So he can’t even take most of his belongings with him because all the furniture is completely destroyed,” she said, adding: “The house has absolutely just gone. The refrigerator’s not working, there’s no water. It’s uninhabitable. He can’t live there.”
While Goldie’s legal filing stated that Rourke had signed a new lease in March, Hines said her client has been living in the home for “more than 10 years.” However, it recently changed hands, at which point the new landlord raised the rental price from $5,200 a month to $7,000 a month.
She hinted that Rourke had tried to raise his concerns about the condition of the home previously, before Goldie “went to the press saying that he was evicting” the actor.
As for her client’s financial situation, Hines conceded that he was in dire straits, admitting that she was “fronting the money” to ensure he has somewhere to live—while criticizing his decision to publicly reject a GoFundMe campaign that has raised close to $100,000 to help Rourke get back on his feet.
While the fundraiser—which was set up by one of Hines’ assistants, Liya-Joelle Jones—stated in its description that it had been launched with Rourke’s full permission, the actor later slammed the campaign in a video posted to his Instagram account, describing it as “humiliating” and “embarrassing.”
On March 9, a judgment obtained by People revealed that the case had been resolved with a default judgment in favor of the landlord, who was then granted possession of the residence where Rourke was residing. (HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The “by default” favor likely means that Rourke failed to respond or appear to defend himself, causing the property to be handed back over to Goldie, thus canceling Rourke’s rental agreement. (GoFundMe)
Although the on-screen star’s current financial situation is not known, this is not the first time he has been accused of falling behind on his rent, having previously been pursued by a landlord in New York, who claimed in 2017 that the actor owed him $30,000 for unpaid rent on a Tribeca loft.
According to the New York Post, Rourke also caused close to $10,000 worth of damage to the property, including unauthorized installation of “disco light fixtures” in the ceiling, a broken lock, a damaged bathtub, and holes in the wall.
He was accused of ceasing his rent payments in October 2016, two months before his lease came to an end in December of that year.
Rourke is understood to have first leased the two-bedroom unit in November 2014, when he signed an 18-month contract. That lease was then extended in April 2016 through the end of that year.
According to The Blast, the actor was later ordered to pay $32,511.06 to his New York landlord as part of a default notice issued by a judge when he failed to show up to court.
Rourke has previously admitted to running into money troubles when his career took a nosedive—resulting in what he described as the loss of “everything.”
“I lost everything. My house, my wife, my credibility, my career,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. “I even lost my entourage, which is when you know things are really bad.
“I just had all this anger from my childhood, which was really shame, not anger, and used it as armor 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.”
His career ran into further trouble earlier this year, when Rourke was asked to leave the “Celebrity Big Brother” house in the U.K. for displaying what producers referred to as “unacceptable behavior.”
A representative for the show alleged in April that he had used “inappropriate language,” including speech that was considered “threatening and aggressive.”
However, Rourke later hit back at the British TV show, revealing in a statement shared by his manager that he planned to sue the production company over claims it was refusing to pay him his full fee for appearing on the reality series.