Bam Margera’s Turbulent Relationship with the ‘Jackass’ Crew, Explained

MTV kicked off the 2000s by introducing Jackass to the world. The beloved cast included Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, and others. Knoxville, Spike Jonze, and Jeff Tremaine were the brains behind the reality comedy series. Jackass combined the sensibilities of boundary-pushing skateboard magazine Big Brother’s videos with the antics chronicled in CKY, the video series Margera and his circle of friends introduced in 1999. Fans tuned in to watch the cast of nine performing outrageous stunts and pranks on each other, while seemingly having a blast together. The controversial show ran for three seasons on MTV between October 2000 and February 2002 and was often criticized for promoting dangerous antics and behavior.

The hit show inspired countless spin-offs, including Viva La Bam, Bam’s Unholy Union, Homewrecker, Wildboyz, and Dr. Steve-O, as well as five feature films, including Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two, Jackass Presents: Mat Hoffman’s Tribute to Evel Knievel, Jackass 3D and Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Despite the franchise’s success, there was plenty of turmoil behind the scenes, with cast members Steve-O and Margera dealing with drug and alcohol abuse. Dunn died in a car accident while driving intoxicated in Pennsylvania on June 20, 2011. His death sent his castmate and best friend, Margera, on a downward spiral that left him even more dependent on alcohol.

Margera’s addiction and mental health troubles caused a rift between him and his family, hurt his career, and affected his involvement in the Jackass franchise. Margera has been taking aim at Knoxville and Tremaine recently for not allowing him to be in Jackass 4, after years of public intoxication and outbursts caused Paramount to question if he was fit to star in the movie. Margera being cut from the film has made things even more complicated between him and the Jackass family. Here’s everything you need to know about Bam Margera being cut off from the upcoming Jackass 4 movie.

‘Jackass’ launches with Margera in its cast

Date: October 25, 2000

Margera appeared on the first episode of the Jackass MTV series in October 2000. He was an integral part of the reality series as well as the movies. He became a fan favorite and went on to have great success with his own spin-off series Viva La Bam and Bam’s Unholy Union. The TV star, who has struggled with alcohol abuse since his twenties, was often seen on-camera under the influence during his reality shows and in behind-the-scenes footage from the Jackass movies.

Margera heads to rehab for the first time

Date: December 2009

The Viva La Bam star was rushed to the hospital in July 2009, and his then-wife Missy Rothstein reportedly called 911 after she found out that he had also taken an Ambien during a four-day drinking bender. He later told TMZ he was hospitalized due to dehydration and said his kidney and leg muscles were affected because he didn’t eat or drink enough water during the drinking binge. He entered rehab for the first time after an intervention from his friends and family in December 2009, but he did not complete the program. That was Margera’s first of many stints in rehab. He wasn’t the only cast member affected by substance abuse, but they continued making the films.

Ryan Dunn dies, deeply affecting Margera

Date: June 20, 2011

Following Ryan Dunn’s death in 2011, Margera said his drinking intensified. The former professional skateboarder said 2012 was the year that he lost control of his drinking after his skating career was halted by bone spurs he developed from skating. He was in and out of rehab for years following his first visit, and in 2016, he talked to Peopleabout having to relearn his skateboarding tricks after years of abusing alcohol. “I took a five-year hiatus from skating because I had bone spurs, so instead I was making money by doing nightclub appearances, which basically was shooting photos and taking shots with the locals,” he said. “So I was shitbag wasted every night, and eventually was like, ‘This has to stop.’ Once I woke up in my own puke and piss, I knew I had to cut it off.” He also opened up about his mental health issues, including his struggles with anxiety and eating disorders.

Margera relapsed after being robbed at gunpoint in Colombia

Date: Aug. 19, 2018

The stuntman revealed during an interview with The Nine Club With Chris Roberts in November 2017 that he had been “mostly sober” since 2015. He entered rehab for the third time after a DUI in January 2018 and reportedly stayed sober for seven months. He relapsed again after being robbed at gunpoint in Colombia in August 2018. The MTV personality shared an Instagram video to talk about the traumatic experience. “I just arrived in Cartagena alone and I took a taxi, a random one, from the airport to here and I wouldn’t speak Spanish, they couldn’t speak English, and they translated on their phone to read ‘empty your wallet’ as they put a gun on their lap to show it to me. So I did and I had 500 bucks,” he said in the video. “They let me go. Welcome to Colombia.” Following the DUI, the pro-skater completed a three-month online alcohol program and 10 court-mandated AA meetings.

Steve-O speaks out about Margera relapsing

Date: Aug. 25, 2018

Steve-O was one of the Jackass stars who also dealt with his own addiction struggles. The stuntman cleaned up his act more than a decade ago and turned his life around. When TMZ asked him in 2018 about Margera’s relapse, Steve-O didn’t sound hopeful for his longtime friend. “I saw on TMZ talking about him drinking again. It’s sad, dude. I kind of saw the signs. It wasn’t a surprise. The only thing that would surprise me is that he only drank then. It’s sad because when Bam was in rehab, I was able to have a real talk with him,” he said. “It becomes years and years just slipping through your fingers, and at a certain point if you have alcoholism—I don’t think anyone shows up in rehab by mistake. If you’ve got alcoholism, you’ve gotta do what the sober people do. That’s all there is to it.”

When asked if he believed his costar was sober for seven months he said: “I don’t. Not to be calling him out or try to talk shit about him but just looking at what he’s posting, you can kind of see where he’s at. I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, he’s drinking.’ That’s sad and that’s what’s going to happen over and over until you do what works. There’s stuff we do that works. I love Bam and I want him to have a good life and be healthy. That’s all anybody wants.” Steve-O celebrated 13 years of sobriety in March and marked the occasion by showing how far he’s come and gave a shout-out to Knoxville. “So grateful to be celebrating thirteen years of sobriety today… thanks to everyone who helped me make it this far and, as always, thanks to @johnnyknoxville for giving me the loving nudge that started my journey!”

Margera reveals he might not star in ‘Jackass 4’

Date: Jan. 6, 2021

Margera went on the Knockin’ Doorz Down podcast in January 2021 and spoke about how he wasn’t sure if he would appear on Jackass 4, which was scheduled to film prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “What’s fucked up is that I had this mentality that all press is good press,” he said. “All press is good press, which isn’t really the case because the last few times I’ve wound up on TMZ and the Dr. Phil thing, I have kind of turned my character into a raging lunatic where Paramount thinks that I’m pretty much a liability and Jeff Tremaine had to fight for me to be in Jackass 4. To the point where it’s a flip of a coin, 50/50, I don’t even know if I’m going to be in it anymore because of my actions.”

“It’s really up in the air. It’s been a real toll on my brain of just wondering for a year, because of COVID, wondering if I’m going to be in it or not. I feel like I’ve gotten more gray hairs from it because I wake up every day and just think, ‘Am I going to be in this or not?’ And it really just fucks with your head.”

Margera asks fans to boycott ‘Jackass 4’ after he is fired

Date: Feb. 11, 2021

Margera took to Instagram to express his disappointment in not being a part of the upcoming Jackass 4. The skateboarder posted Instagram videos telling his fans that he won’t appear in the Spike Jonze-directed film due to his recent history of substance abuse and legal issues. Margera went through several stints in rehab during filming, and he said the production team forced him to take a breathalyzer every few hours, take antidepressants in front of Paramount Pictures officials and submit to taking drug tests regularly. ”If anybody cares about me don’t go see their movie because I will make mine way fucking radder if you just Venmo me a dollar,” he said. “Who the fuck cares if I’m drunk as hell or not anymore?” he added. “Jackass has put me through fucking hell on fucking wheels for a year and a half.”

Margera also said he gave the producers ideas for skits prior to him being fired. “I wrote them so many ideas and if I’m not in the movie, and they use my ideas, how do you think that will make me feel?” he said. “The last thing I want to do is be in a courtroom with Jeff fucking Tremaine. I love him.” Margera also said the situation had led him to suicidal ideation, and his wife found him searching how to tie a noose on the internet at one point during the ordeal.

Margera is permanently cut from the film

Date: Feb. 17, 2021

TMZ reported in February that Margera was permanently axed from Jackass 4 because he broke his contract. Margera was reportedly asked to submit to routine drug tests, stay sober, blow into a breathalyzer, see a psychologist, and take his medication. It’s unclear which of these rules he didn’t follow at the time. A source close to the movie told Variety at the time that early in the filming of the movie, despite Margera being monitored by a wellness coach, he disappeared from the production. The team then found out that he had checked himself into a rehab facility in Florida. The source also said the production team was trying to get Margera help again.

Margera then shared on Instagram that he was seeking help for his manic bipolar disorder, after trying to get fans to boycott Jackass 4. “Morning everyone, I have some good news. I realize I’m manic bipolar,” he said. “Yesterday, I had to go so batshit bonkers crazy for not knowing an answer the last year and a half whether we’re doing Jackass 4. I had to deal with the madness to finally know the answer. Now I know exactly what I want and it’s fucking awesome and it’s going to be in a way where everyone wins in the end.”

Margera says ‘Jackass 4’ team forced him into rehab

Date: April 2, 2021

In an interview with TMZ, Margera opened up about what exactly led to his firing from the fourth film. He also shared that he was forced to go to rehab and that he was prescribed 18 different drugs when he left the facility. “Basically, it started off with…‘Bam, you’ve been out there on TMZ being a jackass and you’re almost like a liability,’” the TV star said. “I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re telling me I’m too jackass for Jackass?’ … I went to rehab for Adderall and alcohol, and I went there thinking I was going to do 30 days but they insisted that I do 90 days. And I’m like, ‘All right, is this on my bill or yours?’ Well, it’s on mine. Well, alright. I don’t want to do it but I’ll do it because you give me $5 million every time we do a movie or more.”

He also said that after leaving rehab, he came out with a prescription for “Zoloft, Vistaril, bupropion lithium,” and other prescriptions that treat depression. He said Knoxville had a problem with him taking Adderall and Klonopin that Margera takes to treat his ADHD. “This is what the doctors say I need,” Bam added. “Then it led to suicidal tendencies on all 18 medications that I was on, I’m like, ‘Well what’s the point of a 5 million dollar contract if you have to walk on eggshells and jump through your hoops, which is already impossible.’ … What the fuck is the point of having the money if I’m not here anymore, because I was gonna die of a pill overdose or suicidal thoughts?”

TMZ asked if he blames the production crew, and he said: “It was the definition of fucking torture. They tortured me.” Margera said he was considering legal action. “I didn’t want it to come down to this but I have no choice,” he said, adding that he had been trying to make the film for 10 years. “It’s supposed to be a fucking reunion, getting the band back together, to pay our respects to Ryan Dunn. He’s rolling around in his fucking grave saying, ‘Why Jeff, why?’”

Date: May 24, 2021

Bam shared a video on Instagram on May 24, 2021, saying he was in Florida visiting a woman at a rehab facility who has worked with other celebrities like Steven Tyler, and said he is getting the help he needs. “I’m in Florida, I’m safe and I’m getting phenomenal help with peace and fucking quiet with the green queen,” he said. He then went on to speak about his issues with his former castmates. “My ‘family’—Jackass—has betrayed me, rejected me, abandoned me,” Bam said in the video. “Not all of them. I love all of them and they love me back. But specifically Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville. So I feel like my family has fucking done everything horrible to me and made me jump on hoops and walk through eggshells—which is impossible—and strung me along like a fucking puppet to get the $5 million I usually get when I make a movie with them because Jeff Tremaine, Big Brother, and CKY has started it.”

Steve-O responded to Margera’s allegations against the Jackass team by commenting on the Instagram post, disagreeing with him, and saying that both Knoxville and Tremaine helped saved his life. “The two people you’re saying wronged you (Knoxville and Tremaine) are the same two people who organized the intervention which saved my life. Everyone bent over backwards to get you in the movie, and all you had to do was not get loaded,” the comment read. “You’ve continued to get loaded, it’s that simple. We all love you every bit as much as we all say we do, but nobody who really loves you can enable you or encourage you to stay sick.”

Johnny Knoxville reacts to Margera’s claims

Date: May 25, 2021

In a flawlessly timed feature on GQ published on May 25, 2021, the stuntman opened up about what it was like to watch his friends and castmates, including Margera, struggle with addiction throughout the course of the series and following the franchise’s success. “It’s difficult when your friends are … It was heartbreaking, losing Ryan. And it was tough when Steve-O was going off the rails. But he has completely, completely turned his life around and is doing just—I mean, he’s doing terrific. He’s a different, different man.”

“I think each of us was responsible for his own actions,” he told the magazine. “And when someone’s struggling, everyone tries to help that person. And at the end of the day, that person has to want help. Sometimes they don’t. Yet.” When asked if he was speaking about anyone in particular, he said: “We want Bam to be happy and healthy and get the help he needs. We tried to push that along. I think that’s all I really want to say about it.” Margera also spoke to GQ and said he was fired from the movie for breaking his contract. “It hurts my heart,” he said, “because I’ve waited 10 years for this.” When asked about the claims, Knoxville said: “I don’t want to get into public back-and-forth with Bam. I just want him to get better.”

Jeff Tremaine files a restraining order

Date: May 25, 2021

TMZ reported on May 25 that the Jackass 4 director, Jeff Tremaine, filed a restraining order against Margera after months of the stuntman making public comments against the director and the film’s production team. The reasoning behind the restraining order has yet to be revealed.

Date: June 25, 2021

Tremaine was granted a restraining order in June that will require Margera to stay at least 100 yards away from him for the next three years. He was initially granted a temporary order when he first filed. The ​Jackass director claimed that Margera sent text messages threatening him and his family, so now the TV personality has to stay away from Tremaine, his wife, and children.

Margera sues Johnny Knoxville, ‘Jackass Forever’ team, and Paramount over firing

Date: Aug. 9, 2021

Margera filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks, Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, and more, on Aug. 9, over his firing from the Jackass Forever film. Margera claims that the Jackass Forever team violated his civil rights by asking him to sign a “wellness agreement” his lawyers referred to as “draconian.” Margera says he was fired from the film over a positive drug test after he took prescription Adderall, noting that he has bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder. According to the lawsuit, the agreement Margera signed said he had to be tested for drugs and alcohol multiple times a day and was forced to take pills each morning on FaceTime with a Paramount-appointed doctor in order to not be terminated.

“Defendants knew full well that Margera had to take Adderall to treat his attention deficit disorder. He had been on this medication for several years. But all of this notwithstanding, and without even giving Margera an opportunity to explain, Paramount fired him,” the lawsuit reads. Margera is seeking millions of dollars in compensation for the “inhumane, abusive and discriminatory treatment” he says he endured, and for also being removed from a franchise he says he helped create. The lawsuit states that Margera created Jackass before the show hit MTV, and claims he came up with the majority of the franchise’s most memorable stunts with the help of his CKY Crew. “While Margera has given Jackass—quite literally—more than two decades' worth of his blood, sweat, and tears, the defendants have not repaid him in kind,” his attorney Eric M. George said in a statement. “Rather, Margera, who has a documented history of mental health issues, including diagnosed bipolar disorder, has been the victim of unconscionable discrimination at the hands of defendants.”

Margera was taken to rehab by police

Date: Sept. 26, 2021

Page Six reported in late September that police took Margera to a rehab facility after he was found “acting out of control” in Florida. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an “emotionally disturbed person” at the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach but the exact nature of Margera’s disturbance and behavior was not revealed at the time. Officers then took him into custody after finding out that he had a legal order against him requiring cops to take him to rehab. It was not disclosed who requested that a judge order for him to seek treatment.

“They received a call that something was going wrong there,” the sheriff’s department spokesperson said, according to the outlet. “When deputies arrived, they were informed that Mr. Margera had an ex parte order, which is a judge’s order for court-ordered rehabilitation. Those are taken out by a third party on behalf of the person.” The incident was not considered an arrest and Margera didn’t face any criminal charges.

Paramount calls Margera’s lawsuit ‘baseless’

Date: Oct. 7, 2021

Paramount Pictures responded to Margera’s allegations of “inhumane treatment” by people who worked on Jackass Forever. “Margera’s lawsuit is baseless,” attorneys for Paramount, MTV Networks, Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, and Spike Jonze, all of whom are mentioned in the lawsuit said, according to Deadline. “His claims seeking to enjoin Jackass Forever improperly target Defendants’ protected speech and are precluded as a matter of law,” the suit continued, adding, “This Court should strike them.”

Paramount also denied Margera’s claim that he felt accosted by Knoxville, Tremaine, and Jonze at a rehab facility where he says they forced him into signing a “draconian sobriety contract.” Paramount denied his claims of being fraudulently coerced into signing his talent agreement, and that the studio forced into taking a “cocktail of pills” prescribed saying they were “outright lies.” The studio also alleged that the Adderall Margera was in possession of was not prescribed as he indicated, but instead, purchased “off the street.”

Margera seeks to dismiss lawsuit against Knoxville and Paramount

Date: Apr. 24, 2022

The TV personality requested to dismiss his wrongful termination lawsuit against Knoxville and others involved in 2022’s Jackass Forever in April. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Margera settled his wrongful termination lawsuit against Knoxville, Spike Jonze, Tremaine along with Paramount Pictures, MTV, Dickhouse Entertainment and Gorilla Flicks. The documents revealed Bam asked to dismiss the lawsuit but it’s unclear if he and the defendants reached a settlement, or if the terms of the settlement remain private.

Margera finishes rehab, begins outpatient treatment

Date: May 17, 2022

Margera finished a year-long drug and alcohol treatment program in Florida in May. TMZ reported that the MTV personality reached his 12-month milestone, but would be continuing outpatient treatment while living nearby with his wife and son.

Margera was reported “missing” by a rehab facility manager in June after he left the treatment center. A Delray Beach police report obtained by TMZ showed he was deemed missing after he told the manager he was unsatisfied with the facility’s services and that he would be checking himself into another rehab. After he was found by police, Margera returned to the Florida rehab facility he left and then went missing again. In July, TMZ reported that Bam was seen “partying with a group of men while police and his family were desperately looking for him,” suggesting that he was no longer sober.

Margera appears on Steve-O's 'Wild Ride' podcast

Date: Aug. 11, 2022

Margera appeared on his co-star Steve-O’s podcast, Wild Ride With Steve-O to talk about the Jackass drama and his rehab and addictions. The actor revealed he felt he was “better off not being” in Jackass Forever. “Everything [was] meant for a reason, and I’m much better off not being in it,” Margera said. “I’m happy to not be in it. I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want to be a part of it. I’m much happier without it.”

Steve-O made it clear they were supportive of him being in the film but couldn’t enable or encourage his addiction. “Everyone bent over backwards to get you in the movie, and all you had to do was not get loaded,’” he said. “You’ve continued to get loaded, it’s that simple. We all love you every bit as much as we all say we do, but nobody who really loves you can enable or encourage you to stay sick.”

In September, it was reported that Margera will be entering an outpatient program but have to follow the same rules as an in-patient to fulfill his court-ordered rehab. The treatment will still entail him staying sober, going to classes, and seeing a psychiatrist.