Actor Mickey Rourke has apologized for directing comments about YouTuber and former Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa’s sexuality on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother.
Rourke and Siwa have currently been starring of the U.K. version of Celebrity Big Brother and the BBC recently reported that the two had some tension during Wednesday night’s episode. The actor was later given a formal warning for using “offensive and unacceptable” language toward Siwa.
The Oscar-nominated star entered the ITV reality show on Monday alongside the 21-year-old TV and social media personality, and 11 other celebrities.
Siwa accused Rourke, 72, of being “homophobic” for saying he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick” and making other comments about her sexuality.
As a result, Big Brother told him: “Further language or behaviour of this nature could lead to you being removed from the Big Brother house.”
In his apology to Siwa, Rourke said that he did not say his comments “out of meanness” when he asked Siwa if she liked boys or girls.
“Girls. My partner is non-binary,” JoJo Siwa told Rourke.
“If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay any more,” he responded.
“I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship,” she shot back.
Rourke, referring to smoking, said “I need a fag” before gesturing to Siwa while saying, “I’m not talking to you.” When former Love Island star Chris Hughes told Rourke not to say “fag,” the actor said, “I know. I was talking about a cigarette.”
The colloquial term for cigarette in Britain has traditionally been the word “Fag.”
Rourke later apologized after being told by the showrunners that his language was offensive.
“I apologize. I don’t have dishonorable intentions – I’m just talking smack, you know. I wasn’t taking it all so serious. I didn’t mean in it any bad intentions and if I did, sorry,” he said.
JoJo Siwa being subjected to homophobic bigotry from Mickey Rourke was a hard watch. #CBBUK pic.twitter.com/L4wR4IlJTU
— Love, Danny (@DannyWxo) April 9, 2025
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
