More details are coming to light around the drama between JoJo Siwa and Mickey Rourke.
During their time under the watchful eye of the U.K.’s version of “Celebrity Big Brother,” singer Siwa claimed she didn’t feel “safe” around Rourke due to homophobic remarks made by the actor. Rourke voluntarily exited the program due to “use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behavior,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
Siwa said on a Wednesday episode of “The Viall Files” that Rourke referred to her as “the lesbian over there.”
“You don’t really wanna point somebody out as ‘the lesbian,’ and so like, was just genuinely giving him a heads up. It does not offend me at all,” said Siwa, who first said she was part of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021. “Just a heads up — don’t say that.”
But she said he didn’t listen and later “made a joke using the f-slur, and that was when actually I was like, ’Whoa, ‘K, I don’t want really much to do with this man right now.’” Then, Rourke made a “sexually inappropriate comment” to her.
On April 9, amid filming, Rourke asked Siwa whether she preferred boys or girls. When she answered, “girls,” he responded: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”
Siwa replied: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay, and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
Rourke’s retort took a dark turn: “I’ll tie you up.”
Siwa told podcast host Nick Viall that she initially tried to “make amends” to share why the language was not just inappropriate, but hurtful. But Rourke wasn’t receptive.
“You’re going to kick a dog while it’s down,” he reportedly snapped.
Siwa insisted that wasn’t her intent. This is when “Love Island” alum Chris Hughes stepped in to smooth things over because Siwa was “shaken up” by the whole ordeal.
“She’s just trying to say her feelings,” Hughes said, according to Siwa.
To which Rourke responded: “I don’t really care about her feelings.”
That comment, Siwa said, pushed her “over the edge,” and then Rourke retorted, “I knew what I was saying, and that’s why I said it. I wanted to offend you. I knew it was going to offend you, and that’s why I wanted to do it. I like poking at a bear.” The moment, she said, didn’t make it into the show.
A representative for Rourke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Christopher Polk via Getty Images
″That’s when I really broke. … I broke down, talked to ‘Big Brother.’ Honestly, I told ‘Big Brother,’ I don’t really feel safe around him. This is very scary now,” she said.
Siwa said she had a goal of trying to understand Rourke’s background and ended up having productive conversations with him.
“I genuinely think he has not had anyone talk to him about something normal in so long, and I think he was messed up as a child and I think that’s coming out now,” she said, later adding, “He’s not a good man, and I will stand behind that. … But he’s also a hurt man. And I can have sympathy for him being a hurt man while not condoning his behavior.”
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