JoJo Siwa’s partner has publicly addressed the situation after witnessing Mickey Rourke make homophobic remarks towards Siwa on Celebrity Big Brother.
The 72-year-old Hollywood actor received a reprimand from the British reality TV show after making several offensive and homophobic comments about the 21-year-old media personality.
On Monday, April 7, Rourke joined the Celebrity Big Brother house with Siwa and 11 other celebrities. Within 48 hours, he faced backlash on social media, and the show issued him a strict warning for his behavior towards Siwa.
Among his comments, Rourke stated that he intended to “vote the lesbian out” and “tie” her up. He also referred to wanting to go to the smoking area by saying, “I need a fag,” and added to Siwa, “I’m not talking to you.”
Siwa was later seen upset by the incident, hugging fellow contestant Chris Hughes in tears. Hughes had earlier called out Rourke for his remarks.
Kath Ebbs, Siwa’s non-binary partner, expressed their disgust about the incident on Instagram, stating that Rourke’s comments made them ‘sick.’
“Let’s take out for a second the fact that I obviously have massive emotional stakes in the comments that Mickey made to Jojo by the virtue of her being my f**king partner,” Ebbs said. “They’re also rooted in misogyny and f**king violence.”
Ebbs continued to criticize Rourke, labeling him as a ‘weasel’ and claiming his comments are ‘rooted in misogyny.’
They elaborated: “If men deem you unf**kable, they have no use for you. If the male gaze is not a part of this situation and I have no power over you sexually- which no offence Mickey you look like a f**king foot, so you don’t stand a chance with anyone anyway because you’re a f**king loser – then I’m going to bully you.”
The social media personality and self-described queer advocate noted that there are ‘so many layers’ to the issue, stating it makes them feel ‘sick to my stomach.’
“I would not want to be alone in a room with him and I wouldn’t want anyone to be alone in a room with him.”
In a preview of the upcoming episode, Big Brother issued Rourke a formal warning for his ‘offensive and unacceptable’ language, cautioning him: “Further language or behaviour of this nature could lead to you being removed from the Big Brother house.”
Rourke was also seen apologizing to Siwa, saying: “I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse. And I don’t mean nothing by it. I do mean it [sorry]. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say it to you.”
Although Siwa accepted the apology, her partner, who referred to Siwa as the ‘love of my life,’ was less forgiving.
“Mate that wasn’t a short fuse,” Ebbs continued. “You revealed yourself, you revealed the way that you really think and the way that you think about women and you feel a little bit ashamed because you got called out for it on a television show.”
They advised Rourke to ‘read a f***ing book’ and ‘examine’ his own behavior.
“[T]hink about if you had a daughter or sister that you really loved who was a woman, would you leave them alone with you.”
On their Instagram story, Ebbs expressed disappointment that ‘only ONE’ contestant challenged Rourke’s comments, which they found ‘very telling if where we are at.’
In the diary room, Rourke commented: “I don’t have dishonourable intentions – I’m just talking smack, you know. I wasn’t taking it all so serious.”