Mickey Rourke isn’t running the best Oscar campaign, and even though he could still pull it out in the end, this latest news isn’t helping. Swallow hard – Rourke is rumored to be dating Courtney Love. The source for all of this is The Daily Mirror (via The Daily Telegraph), one of the worst of the British tabloids, so it could all be a lie.

The crux of the story seems to be that Mickey allegedly texted Love mid-January, and that they were at the same event earlier this week, the Elle Style Awards in London. Courtney Love was named the Elle Woman of the Year at the event, and Mickey Rourke won Best Actor, at which time he fondled presenter Thandie Newton. I wonder if Courtney got jealous? Here are the “details” of the hook-up, for what they’re worth:

Mickey Rourke, the Oscar-nominated star of The Wrestler, is dating Courtney Love, it has been reported. The pair have been secretly seeing each other for the past three weeks, according to the Daily Mirror.

The newspaper has reported that Rourke texted Love around the time of the Golden Globes, asking her out on a date.

The celebrity couple both attended the Elle Style awards in North London on Monday, where Rourke picked up the Best Actor award and Love picked up the Elle Woman of the Year accolade.

Love, 44, the widow of Kurt Cobain, jetted in from the US to snatch the award after she was hailed for a year of online rants on her blog.

Last week Rourke, 46, won the Best Actor award at the Baftas for his performance in The Wrestler, which has been credited with reviving his flagging career.

In The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky, Rourke plays has-been fighter, Randy “The Ram” Robinson, who comes out of retirement following a heart attack for a final bout with his old nemesis.

The film closely mirrors Rourke’s own fall from the limelight. A huge star in the 1980s thanks to his roles in Rumble Fish, 9 1/2 Weeks and Angel Heart, he was hailed as the next Marlon Brando.

But he earned a reputation for being difficult to work with and he made a series of disastrous career moves, reportedly turning down the lead roles in Top Gun, Rain Man and Beverly Hills Cop, before taking up boxing. In the ring he sustained several serious facial injuries, before doctors ordered him to give up.

From The Daily Telegraph

Even though it wouldn’t surprise me of either Rourke or Courtney, I still doubt this report. I tend to think Mickey is just trying to humbly keep his head above water during this roughed-up Oscar season, and he probably doesn’t want to take time away from his beloved dogs.

Courtney Love isn’t the only “love” (barf) that Rourke is getting. He also got an “endorsement” from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who admitted that he helped fill out his wife’s Oscar ballot, which is a scandal all on it’s own. Once again, The Daily Telegraph has more:

Coldplay singer Chris Martin has revealed that he helped fill in his wife Gwyneth Paltrow’s Oscar voting forms – and gave his support to Mickey Rourke.

Nominations are chosen through a secret ballot of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences whose members include actors and other film industry workers.

In a radio interview, however, Mr Martin admitted peeking at an Oscar nomination form belonging to his wife, former Best Actress winner Gwyneth Paltrow.

He told Manchester’s Key 103 that he was allowed to suggest Rourke as one of the top contenders on his wife’s list.

He said: “I read the instructions, which is like you’ve got to put your top five in order and if the number one that you’ve chosen isn’t really doing very well, then they move on to your number two and include that with the one that is doing well, if you see what I mean.”

“I did get a say on that form. I got to put a vote in. I voted for Mickey Rourke. Isn’t he great in that film?”

From The Daily Telegraph

This is actually a pretty big break of protocol. It’s one thing if Gwyneth wanted to tell people who she was voting for, but the Academy really frowns on letting spouses or family members do the ballot-filling, much less announce the choice. Seriously, the Academy thinks it’s ballots are more important than those for President of the United States. Oscar ballots are usually more secure, al least. But back to Mickey – I really do think he’s going to win. And I hope he’s hooking up with someone better than Courtney.

Here are pictures of Courtney Love headed back to her hotel at 4am in the morning in London today. Credit: WENN

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