Jackass: Forever star Steve-O recently weighed in on the lawsuit from former co-star Bam Margera and called the whole thing “absurd.” At the beginning of August, Margera filed a lawsuit against star Johnny Knoxville, director Spike Jonze, and Paramount, alleging that he was wrongfully fired from the upcoming fourth installment in the franchise, Jackass Forever. The film, which was initially supposed to release next month, was just recently delayed to February. However, Steve-O has confirmed that Covid-19 is to blame for the delay, not Margera’s lawsuit.
Margera, who has been in and out of rehab several times over the past ten years, was fired in February for allegedly failing to pass a drug test, violating an agreement he had signed with the film’s producers. In the lawsuit, Margera alleges that not only was he coerced into signing the “wellness agreement” that would eventually get him fired, but that he failed the drug test because he tested positive for Adderall, a medication he has been prescribed for over ten years.
In a new TMZ interview, Steve-O didn’t hold back when discussing Margera’s lawsuit. While it sounds like Steve-O still cares for his former cast-mate, he sided very clearly with Knoxville, Jonze, and Paramount and appears genuinely surprised Margera was even able to file such a claim. It seems that as long as this lawsuit remains ongoing, there’s little hope for reconciliation between the parties involved. Read Steve-O’s comment on the lawsuit below:
“I tell you this man, I love Bam. I have no idea how he managed to get anybody to file a lawsuit. I’ve read it, and it’s just absurd. I mean it’s literally absurd… I shouldn’t even say what I said, but I can tell you that the lawsuit is absurd.”
This isn’t the first time Steve-O has shown his co-star some tough love. In the spring, not long after his firing, Margera posted a video to his Instagram in which he addressed his firing and the frustration he felt towards Knoxville. Steve-O, who has had his own past struggles with addiction, defended Knoxville, saying Knoxville “save [his] life” before going on to say that “everyone bent over backwards to get you in the movie, and all you had to do was not get loaded.” Director of Jackass Forever, Jeff Tremaine, was forced to get a restraining order against Margera after Margera wouldn’t stop harassing him online. Still, Knoxville has stayed relatively quiet about the whole conflict, saying months ago that he “just wants [Bam] to get better.”
It’s unclear exactly how the lawsuit will unfold and whether or not it will affect the future of the Jackass franchise. Knoxville has gone on record saying that Jackass Forever will be his last Jackass film, but it’s not clear if Steve-O shares that same sentiment. Regardless, it doesn’t seem Bam Margera will ever be able to return to the franchise at this point, even if he wanted to. It remains to be seen whether Margera’s lawsuit is as “absurd” as Steve-O claims, but one thing fans can agree on is that it’s always a shame when a once-tightly-knit group of friends is publicly torn apart in such an ugly fashion. Jackass Forever promises to be yet another crazy entry in the franchise and is scheduled to release on February 4th of next year.
