Rourke 'slams Oscar rival Penn'

Mickey Rourke has reportedly blasted his Oscar rival Sean Penn's performance in Milk.

Both Rourke and Penn have been tipped for Academy Award nominations for their roles as a fading wrestler and gay politician in The Wrestler and Milk respectively.

Website The Daily Beast allegedly obtained a text message from Rourke criticising Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office.

Rourke's message supposedly 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]

A publicist for Rourke denied the existence of the message, saying: "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."