Mickey Rourke has been busted by a Hollywood big-wig who shared with the world a text message sent by Rourke in which the freak-faced actor trashed fellow thespian Sean Penn. The unpleasantness began because Rourke is apparently jealous over all the attention Penn has been getting for his marvelous performance as Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant's terrific biopic Milk. Rourke thinks Penn's work is overrated - a sentiment that became public when Rourke was overheard expressing it backstage at David Letterman's program. Rourke then tried to explain himself in a private text to the aforementioned big-wig. The text read:
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]
Let's get a few things out of the way: 1) Both these guys are obviously closet-cases; 2) Rourke is as terrific in The Wrestler as Penn is in Milk and I don't really understand why it's necessary for us to treat this as a competition except for all the Oscar shit...further proof that the Oscars are a blight on humanity; 3) If these guys fought Rourke would hit Penn once in the stomach and Penn would fold up and vomit and that would be the end of it. Penn is only tough when he's drunk and flailing at photographers. Rourke is the genuine article - he will kick your ass without even blinking (mostly because he is no longer able to move his eyelids); 4) If any actor deserves to be trashed this Oscar season it's Brad Pitt for sitting there like a useless lump all through Benjamin Buttmunch. Thank goodness for CGI and make-up otherwise there would've been no performance there at all. Chalk this one up to secret queens will be secret queens.
