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Rourke Trashes Penn
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In a private text message obtained by The Daily Beast, Mickey Rourke bashes Sean Penn—his chief rival in the Oscar race—as a "homophobe" and an "average" actor.
Whistleblower has learned from several entertainment industry sources that Mickey Rourke—whose extraordinary comeback performance in The Wrestler is garnering him early praise as a shoo-in for a best actor Oscar nomination—is trash talking his likely toughest competitor, Sean Penn, whose acting in Milk has earned rave reviews.
After his December 23 appearance on David Letterman, Rourke told someone backstage that he was surprised that so many people seemed to think that Penn was his Oscar competition since “I’m not even sure he’ll get a nomination.”
On December 28, a Los Angeles entertainment honcho shared a text message with me that Rourke had sent him: “Look seans an old friend of mine and i didnt buy his performance at all—thought he did an average pretend acting like he was gay besides hes one of the most homophobic people i kno" [sic]
“It’s a shame,” says one veteran Hollywood lawyer. “Mickey should be looking at this as a once in a career chance for a fresh start. But dumping on Penn is not going to win him any friends. It’s not the way to get Oscar votes.”
Rourke’s publicist says “there is no Oscar feud between Mickey and Sean. They have known each other and been friends for a very long time. Mickey attended the New York premiere of Milk to support Sean and only has the greatest respect for him.” She adds that Rourke is ”completely unaware of the text.”
Miami friends of Rourke acknowledge he is brutally honest, even to his own detriment. “Mickey will call a spade a spade,” says a long time acquaintance. “Even if he makes you cringe sometimes with what he says, at least you’ll know he’s not bullshitting you.” Rourke’s bad mouthing of Penn would not be the first instance in Oscar history in which someone trashed the competition. Back in 2002, for instance, there was a nasty feud between Miramax and DreamWorks. Miramax flacks secretly released a steady stream of harsh criticisms of Universal's A Beautiful Mind in order to nab Oscar votes for Miramax's In the Bedroom. Miramax execs counter-charged that executives at the David Geffen-Jeffrey Katzenberg-Steven Spielberg-owned studio had started rumors that Miramax was using only dirty tricks to derail A Beautiful Mind. Animosity between the two studios dates back to 1998, when Harvey Weinstein lobbied so aggressively for Shakespeare in Love, which was up against Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture, that he was reported to have told numerous Oscar voters that Ryan was a mediocre film at best.
But Rourke’s bashing of Penn takes it beyond the studio level and makes it much more personal, especially since the two are friends. It is the first time anyone can recall an actor dissing another actor so openly for the performance.
RELATED: Rourke’s Resurrection by Tom Tapp; My Date With Sean Penn by Howard Rosenman
Gerald Posner is the award-winning author of 10 best-selling books of investigative nonfiction ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism (www.posner.com). He also has written dozens of articles for national magazines and newspapers. He is a regular contributor to NBC, CNN, CBS, and MSNBC. Posner lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
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Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's chief investigative reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, on topics ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
JeepRover
I should have "skipped this". It was stupid.
eveharrington
Total non-story.
freaky
I agree, that Sean Penn gave the worst performance in his career!
cvbnyc
I was at the New York premiere of MILK and I didn't see Mickry Rourke there. Is he lying?
ArthurianLegend
Everyone knows Sean Penn is a homophobe. It made the performance even more challenging.
msilverstein
"an entertainment honcho" and "someone" at the Letterman show and this makes news. It is gossip and not worth repeating. Remember the game children play: the first person wispers a word in he next persons ear and by the fourth person the word has changed. Mr. Posner's credentials are better than this jazz.
clintlongworth
"It is the first time anyone can recall an actor dishing another actor so openly for the performance." So "openly" is defined as telling "someone" backstage at Letterman, and sending a private text to a "Los Angeles entertainment honcho" who, despite being a honcho, has nothing better to do than share private texts with your publication (and of course chooses to remain anonymous). What a bunch of shit.
cvbnyc
I am Charley Beal, the art director on MILK. Sean Penn's commitment to the gay community should never be underestimated. He stands with us. Mickey Rourke must ask himself why?
gatordomer
Calling Sean Penn an average actor is absurd. He is not nearly that good.
janedgross
Saw "Milk" yesterday and Sean Penn was fabulous in my opinion. He is one of the best in the industry today. I also look forward to seeing Micky Rourke's comeback in "Wrestler". Hope they both get nominated. I would hate to see Micky's "brutal honesty" mess up his comeback. Lighten up, Micky. There is enough room for both of you. Don't make us chose between you and Sean. You may regret it. Just Chill. Thanks, Gerald, for your interesting article as usual.
a2burns
micky rourke is jealous of sean penn !!!!!!!!!!!
Zugzwang
I saw "Milk" and am tempted to agree with Rourke; it was good, but I wasn't blown away. The last line of this brief is kind of ironic. This wasn't a *public* bashing of Penn at all. It was a private text message that someone who claims to be an associate shared with a reporter.
If I were Rourke, I'd pick my friends more carefully. If I were the reporter? Well...I guess this makes clear why I don't read gossip columns.
tabjones
Posner is a frigging clown...
So starts the campaign to railroad Mickey
The Academy is so terrified of him showing up in a purple tux that they are starting a bullshit campaign to smear him
A private text and unnamed source?
Cut the crap you frigging asskissing morons....you are fcking disgusting with this
Even if Mickey did send a text like that....it was PRIVATE
Journalism is dead...Posner you should be ashamed of yourself
pourmecoffee
Please keep us posted on Mickey Rourke's text messages. Day or night. Keep a man on it.
mcoatney
One bit of fact checking: The "Text message" in question --
Look seans an old friend of mine and i didnt buy his performance at all-thought he did an average pretend acting like he was gay besides hes one of the most homophobic people i kno
--is about 20 characters too long to be a text message, at least under any SMS service that I know of. It could be that the 'entertainment honcho' was mistaken, and it was an email, or an IM, or somesuch. Or it could be that he made the whole thing up.
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