Bella Thorne has accused Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke of bruising her genitals and “humiliating” her on set, amid his controversial appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.
In a series of social media posts shared on Friday (11 April), Thorne, 27, claimed that she had “so many gross stories” from working with the 72-year-old The Wrestler actor.
Although she did not name the project, they both acted in the 2020 thriller Girl, which starred Thorne as the main character who revisits her family home to find a dangerous past, which was written and directed by Chad Faust.
Thorne alleged that she and Rourke were filming a sequence in which he was supposed to take a metal grinder to her kneecap, but instead used it on her “genitals through my jeans” resulting in bruising.
She wrote: “This f***ing dude. GROSS. I had to work with this man. In a scene where I’m on my knees with my hands zip-tied around my back. He’s supposed to take a metal grinder to my knee cap and instead he used it on my genitals thru my jeans. Hitting them over and over again. I had bruises on my pelvic bone.”
In a separate post on X/Twitter, Thorne spoke of different instances where she claimed Rourke purposefully “humiliated” her in front of the cast and crew.
“So many gross stories of things he made me go thru on that movie, including in his last scene to speed up and rev his engine so he could cover me completely in dirt. Idk I guess he thought it was funny to humiliate me in front of the entire crew,” she said.
A representative of Rourke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
She also claimed that Rourke refused to speak to the directors and producers, so she would enter his trailer alone to “beg” him to finish the film.
“Having to go in his trailer absolutely alone because he refused to speak to the director or producers – so I had to convince him to show up and complete his job, as he shouted crazy demands that he wanted from the producers. In fact I had to beg. Alone. In his trailer. Since the movie could not be finished without him. Everyone’s work would’ve just been lost and completely for nothing,” she said.
She added: “I didn’t wanna do it. I was uncomfortable, but I did what I was asked to do and what was best for the movie. Mickey should’ve never put anybody in that movie in any of those positions that he did.”
Thorne concluded that working with Rourke was “one of the all-time worst experiences of my life working as an actress”.
During Wednesday night’s episode of Celebrity Big Brother (9 April), Rourke was given a formal warning by Big Brother after he suggested he could turn 21-year-old Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa straight, before announcing he “needs a fag” and pointing at Siwa, saying, “I’m not talking to you.” He also remarked that he would “vote the lesbian out” of the show.
He also “ogled” the reality show’s co-host AJ Odudu upon his entrance to the Big Brother house and offended fellow housemate Donna Preston with a comment about her weight.
Rourke’s conduct on the programme has led to calls from viewers to have him removed from the programme.
A representative for Big Brother told The Independent on Wednesday: “All Housemates receive Respect and Inclusion training and an extensive briefing from the Big Brother Senior team to prepare them for living in the House and to set out Big Brother’s expectation for appropriate behaviour and language. “Housemates are monitored 24 hours a day and instances of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with appropriately and timely.”
