Has George Zimmerman gone rogue?

He launched his own Internet site Wednesday night, saying his lawyer’s web page had failed in three key missions: disputing information, fund-raising and providing a voice for him.

And a voice he’s offering: late Thursday, he posted a bilingual video of himself on YouTube, reaching out to supporters as news spread that his legal defense fund had been virtually depleted.

The new website went up just hours after he backed out of an interview with television personality Barbara Walters, because the network refused to pay for a month of hotel and security for Zimmerman’s wife. Then he called Walters to apologize – during her live TV show “The View.”

“He is desperate for money,” Walters said on the air. “He is very worried about his family and his wife and parents and has gotten death threats. It’s hardly a good situation for anyone.”

A flurry of bizarre turns the past two days suggest Zimmerman has begun to break away from the advice of his lawyer and take matters into his own hands. Legal experts say it’s a risky move for him to go so public, when he still faces the prospect of life in prison. Some question his attorney’s judgment in allowing him to continue that behavior.

“The client always calls the shots,” his lawyer, Mark O’Mara said Thursday. “If you’re on the streets or about to be hungry and worried for the wife you love, maybe you have to make decisions along the way.’’

Walters flew to Central Florida Wednesday in the hopes of securing a sit-down interview with Zimmerman, who gained national notoriety for the Feb. 26 shooting of an unarmed Miami Gardens teenager named Trayvon Martin. She said despite advice from his attorney to do the interview, Zimmerman showed up in a T-shirt and made a deal-breaking last-minute demand.

She and her crew packed up and went back to New York, only to get a call from him and O’Mara the next morning during her live show. She politely declined to take the call.

“He just wanted to thank her for being gracious and to apologize,” O’Mara said. “We weren’t expecting to do an interview live on her show.”

O’Mara said the former neighborhood watch volunteer made the request for hotel and security because he is frantically worried over finances. He fears he will get arrested for misleading the court about his finances, and is upset about the perjury charge his wife was slapped with.

Zimmerman also has been hammered by another spate of negative publicity. This month alone, a judge accused him of trying to abscond with contributions from the public, a childhood sexual molestation accusation was revealed Monday, and at least two witnesses told authorities that his mom dislikes blacks.

Zimmerman appears to be exhibiting similar behavior that led to his break with his first set of attorneys, who quit the case in a nationally televised press conference. Back then, they said Zimmerman was not taking their calls, had reached out to the prosecutor and to conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, and launched a legal defense fund that rivaled one they had set up with Zimmerman’s dad.

“O’Mara is not in control over the situation and has got to pull the reins in,” said Miami Beach criminal defense lawyer Michael Grieco, who has been following the case. “Zimmerman is a loose cannon...he can’t see past his nose.’’