assistant

Mickey Rourke is doubling down on his disgust over a fundraiser that quickly raised more than $100,000 on his behalf, calling it an embarrassing “scam” and a “vicious cruel lie” and promising “severe repercussions to [the] individual who did this very bad thing” to him.

At the same time, the fundraiser — aimed at keeping Rourke in his home when he faced eviction because of almost $60,000 in unpaid rent — has been taken down, with the actor’s name being used now by others to boost their more anonymous efforts.

(A Friday morning search for “Mickey Rourke” on GoFundMe yielded more than a dozen campaigns drafting off the search value of the actor’s high-profile situation but the campaign set up for the “9½ Weeks” actor was nowhere to be found.)

The GoFundMe had been placed on pause last week after more than $100,000 was raised in two days, with Rourke’s manager Kimberly Hines writing, “Thank you so much for your generosity and for standing with Mickey during this time. Your support truly means a great deal to us, and we are grateful for every donation. We remain committed to finding a resolution and are working with Mickey to determine the next steps.”

Rejecting the donations, Rourke called the fundraiser “humiliating” and “really f— embarrassing” in a video posted last week, saying he didn’t need the money.

“I wouldn’t know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years,” said the actor, 73, who was a leading man in the 1980s with movies including “Barfly” and “Angel Heart” and was Oscar-nominated for his work in 2008’s “The Wrestler.” “My life is very simple and I don’t go to outside sources like that.”

He said later in the video that he “would never ask strangers or fans for a nickel. That’s not my style.”

Hines might disagree, as she said she’s the one who has been fronting the money to cover Rourke’s move out of the Beverly Grove house and into a hotel and subsequently into a Koreatown apartment.

Hines’ assistant’s name had been listed as the creator of the fundraiser, with Hines named as the beneficiary. The actor’s manager of nine years told the Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 6 that Rourke knew the origins of the effort, despite saying he did not: She and her assistant had run the idea past his assistant before it was launched, she said, and both teams were OK with it.

“Nobody’s trying to grift Mickey. I want him working. I don’t want him doing a GoFundMe,” Hines told THR. “The good thing about this is that he got four movie offers since yesterday. People are emailing him movie offers now, which is great because nobody’s been calling him for a long time.”

But Rourke was still fretting over it Thursday on Instagram, where he said in a couple of posts that there was still more than $90,000 to be returned to his supporters and promised that his attorney was “doing everything in his power” to make sure people got their “hard earned money” back.

He also thanked some “great” friends who he said reached out after seeing the “scam” that he needed money, including UFC boss Dana White and fighter Bill “Superfoot” Wallace.

Rourke said in his Jan. 6 video, shot while he was staying at a hotel, “I’m grateful for what I have. I’ve got a roof over my head, I’ve got food to eat. … Everything’s OK. Just get your money back, please. I don’t need anybody’s money, and I wouldn’t do it this way. I’ve got too much pride. This ain’t my style.”

Donnie McClurkin, the Grammy-winning gospel singer and minister who has publicly denounced homosexuality, has been sued for sexually abusing his former male personal assistant.

McClurkin, 66, faces allegations of sexual assault, sexual battery and more in the civil lawsuit filed Friday in New York County Supreme Court. The singer’s accuser, identified in court documents as Giuseppe Corletto, accuses McClurkin of sexually assaulting him numerous times from the start of his employment in 2004 to 2015. The complaint also includes an alleged email from the singer, in which he apologizes for his actions and writes, “I am the actual epitome of a desperate dirty ‘old man.’”

A legal representative for McClurkin denied the allegations as “categorically false.”

“At no time did Pastor McClurkin engage in any form of sexual abuse, assault, or sexual coercion of Mr. Corletto,” McClurkin attorney Gregory S. Lisi said in a statement shared Tuesday. “The claims set forth in the lawsuit grossly mischaracterize their interactions, which occurred over a decade, and some accusations over 2 decades, ago. All these allegations are contradicted by the real facts.”

Lisi added: “Pastor McClurkin denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend against this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. As this is now active litigation, Pastor McClurkin will not be commenting further at this time.”

The lawsuit claims Corletto was 21 years old and struggling with his sexuality when he met McClurkin, known for songs “I Call You Faithful” and “Wait on the Lord,” in August 2003. Corletto attended a reading for McClurkin’s 2001 book “Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor,” centered on the singer’s experience of “being delivered on homosexuality,” and met the singer, according to court documents. Corletto sought guidance from the Grammy winner, who hired him as a personal assistant.

The two men developed a mentor-mentee relationship and engaged in “pray the gay away” spiritual sessions “during which Defendant McClurkin groped Plaintiff’s genitals” without consent, according to the lawsuit. McClurkin had also allegedly “set up scenarios” between Corletto and other men and framed them as “tests from God.”

In 2007, Corletto and his girlfriend traveled with McClurkin and the singer’s family to California, where the artist allegedly sexually assaulted Corletto in a hotel room. The lawsuit alleges that McClurkin exposed himself to Corletto before pulling him onto a bed, forcefully kissing and grabbing his body and forcing Corletto to engage in anal sex. When Corletto confronted his boss about the alleged assault, McClurkin allegedly said he had no recollection and blamed Corletto’s behavior on medication. The singer “further manipulated Plaintiff, blaming him for the incident and convincing him that he was the sole culpable party,” confusing Corletto, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that McClurkin “exploited this tactic repeatedly, coercing Plaintiff into further unwanted sexual acts over the next six years,” including numerous alleged incidents while he was working at McClurkin’s church. The complaint details additional accounts of alleged sexual assault from 2007 to 2008.

Corletto had attempted to stop working for McClurkin multiple times, the lawsuit said, but the singer refused, telling his assistant “that his ‘deliverance’ and ‘purpose’ were tied” to him. The complaint adds that Corletto told several church staff members of the alleged sexual assault, but that “no action was taken.” Corletto stopped working for McClurkin in 2008, but continued running into the singer in the following years, the lawsuit said.

The “Again” artist allegedly sexually assaulted Corletto in 2012 in Orlando, where the latter was training for an airline job. McClurkin learned of his former employee’s location through one of Corletto’s friends and appeared at his hotel room. The lawsuit alleged McClurkin said he needed to talk to Corletto, who “reluctantly agreed to let” the singer into his room. Inside the hotel room, McClurkin allegedly “begged Plaintiff to have sex with him ‘one last time,’” but Corletto refused. Corletto alleges he woke up to find McClurkin masturbating and touching his body before the singer “forced himself again onto Corletto” and raped his former employee, the lawsuit says.

Corletto returned to McClurkin’s church in the summer of 2013 and joined the singer during a trip to Niagara Falls. McClurkin allegedly sexually assaulted Corletto again and days later sent an email apologizing for his actions, a screenshot included in the lawsuit shows. In addition to likening himself to a “desperate dirty ‘old man,’” per the lawsuit, McClurkin allegedly wrote to Corletto, “I forced myself on you … groping you … and when I think about it … you never touched me like that at all.” McClurkin also allegedly promised to be a friend and pastor to Corletto.

Two years after McClurkin sent the alleged email, Corletto returned to the singer’s church amid his struggles with mental health. The lawsuit claims McClurkin engaged in further sexual misconduct, “taking advantage of Plaintiff’s vulnerability and current fragile mental state.”

Corletto “sustained injury, emotional distress, physical pain, emotional pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life” as a result of the sexual assault, the complaint said. He seeks a jury trial, an unspecified amount in compensatory damages, legal fees and additional damages.

Times editorial library director Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

Bob Chesney’s initial UCLA football staff is going to have a familiar feel to anyone who follows James Madison.

After hiring offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy and defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler, the new Bruins coach also is bringing along five other assistants who helped the Dukes reach the College Football Playoff: offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Smith, cornerbacks coach Eddie Whitley Jr., safeties coach Anthony DiMichele, defensive line coach Sam Daniels and special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Drew Canan. While most of the assistants will retain their titles, Whitley now will coach defensive backs and Daniels defensive ends with the Bruins.

Chesney is retaining two UCLA assistants in safeties coach Gabe Lynn and running backs coach A.J. Steward, with Lynn transitioning into a role coaching nickel backs. Chesney also is bringing in another assistant with Big Ten experience in Legi Suiaunoa, the former Michigan State defensive line coach who will fill the same role with the Bruins.

Vic So’oto will be the Bruins’ linebackers coach after spending the last four seasons at California in a variety of roles. A former NFL linebacker who spent two seasons as USC’s defensive line coach, So’oto took a job as Cal’s outside linebackers coach in 2022. The next season he added the role of special teams coordinator to his title before becoming the Golden Bears’ co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach last season.

Rounding out Chesney’s staff is wide receivers coach Colin Lockett, who spent last season in the same role at New Mexico. Lockett has plenty of experience on the West Coast after serving as a graduate assistant at Oregon in addition to being a defensive backs quality control coach at Washington and a graduate assistant at San Diego State. Lockett also knows the Southern California high school recruiting scene well after spending three seasons as a defensive backs coach at St. John Bosco High.

Steward also offers deep connections throughout the West after previously working at Kansas, Baylor, Oregon State, Arizona, Brigham Young and Rice. Suiaunoa and Steward overlapped at Oregon State for two of Suianoa’s six seasons as an assistant with the Beavers.

In another nod to continuity, Chesney is hiring Chris Grautski, his director of athletic performance at James Madison, to become head strength coach at UCLA.

“In organizing our first-year staff, it was imperative that we find coaches who fit a mold unique to UCLA football that will allow for immediate success,” Chesney, who is expected to complete his staff soon, said in a statement. “This group possesses a great blend of competency, diversity and passion, and a track record of winning. Our infusion of West Coast ties will be essential in elevating UCLA’s brand, not just in Southern California, but across all of college football. Most importantly, this coaching staff will create an environment of competition and toughness that will challenge our student-athletes to become their absolute best on and off the field.”

Most of Chesney’s hires have strong ties to their boss.

Canan has been part of Chesney’s staff for more than a decade, starting at Assumption College in 2014 before following Chesney to Holy Cross, James Madison and now UCLA. Smith spent five seasons working under Chesney at Holy Cross before leaving to become an assistant offensive line coach with the NFL’s New York Giants in 2023 and later rejoining Chesney at James Madison in 2024.

Whitley has the distinction of having worked for both Chesney and predecessor Curt Cignetti as part of Whitley’s six seasons at James Madison, which made him the longest tenured coach on the Dukes’ staff this season.

DiMichele has worked alongside Chesney for the last four seasons after joining his staff at Holy Cross in 2022 and following him to James Madison. Daniels was a newcomer to Chesney’s staff when he was hired before the 2024 season at James Madison, his alma mater.