scene report: jackass in 2025
wtf are these guys up to anyway?
Credit: Netflix, John Mulaney
“I, 100% not doing a bit, believe you should get the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Because you changed American comedy, more than most anyone else in the past have done. Like. You guys have totally, like what you did, was you’ve created some of the craziest, funniest moments in like American movie history. And I don’t know if that’s always like, acknowledged.” — John Mulaney to Johnny Knoxville on Knoxville’s impact, Jackass’ comedy legacy, and generally lowkey stealing my whole thing. (Source)
Meaning that we are effectively approaching 25 years of Jackass as an entity. While it existed in a couple forms before that air date, namely in the pages of Big Brother magazine (Chris Pontius’ articles, Wee Man’s covers), the VHS sections of skate shops nationwide (Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn’s CKY and CKY2K), or a combination of both (Johnny Knoxville’s stunts in Big Brother’s tapes), October 1st, 2000 is what I regard as the true Jackassian beginning. I get to say things like this because I run a Jackass blog.
That means that there’s been almost 25 years of seasons, movies, specials, spinoffs, lost tapes, stunts, nudity, skateboards, bikes, weapons, bulls, concussions, parties, arrests, fines, alcohol, weed, coke, nitrous, fentanyl, overdoses, rehab, recovery, re-establishment, podcasts, posts, more movies, more crew members, and a tragic death.
25 years is time for a lot of change, especially as a group of niche celebrities tied to one particular, outrageous and irreplicable franchise. There will never be another Jackass. The crew all knows this, I am fairly haunted by it, but it means that they’re all fairly secure in their legacies. However, are they secure in their present-day goings on? Let’s discuss:
johnny knoxville
This whole post was inspired by John Mulaney’s little teaser a couple weeks ago that gave away that Johnny Knoxville would be invited on last week’s episode of Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney. But outside of that, Knoxville is already having a big year (and it’s only April). The week that Knoxville was a guest on Everybody’s Live was the same week The Luckiest Man in America, a movie where he has some kind of small role, was released to theaters. He is also playing himself in Apple TV’s A-lister-filled The Studio and was even used in the critically-acclaimed TV show’s Super Bowl ad spot with Josh Hutcherson. While they don’t have dates yet, it’s hesitantly expected that two more movies starring Knox will be released this year: Michael Lewen’s Tiny Fugitives and Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex. He also has a podcast called "Pretty Sure I Can Fly" with Elna Baker.
While he was pretty immediately a greasy MTV celebrity, dirty sex symbol, and a charismatic face to associate with a scummy franchise, in the past decade, Johnny Knoxville became a very revered countercultural icon. This hallowed designation as an Icon could come from a couple things. You could say it’s Y2K nostalgia but I don’t think that’s right. I actually think Jackass has weirdly evaded any kind of Y2K conversations, with mention of Bam Margera’s fashion trendsetting only recently breaching the surface. You could say it’s proof that millennials are in casting rooms and I would say you’re warmer but also ask why Steve-O or Pontius aren’t given the same opportunities. Like if I was casting a little flick, Steve-O would be my first call. You could say it's just that out of the entire world of crude humor, he is the most hilarious and affable person who also has real artistic merit, and I would say that’s probably it.
If I were to pinpoint a specific moment this legacy was cemented, I would choose the Jackass Forever press tour. While promoting a movie no one even thought would happen, Knoxville emerged into the public eye with a shock of gray hair and really delved into the medical mishaps he got during filming both this movie and other projects (namely a brain hemorrhage). The audience, now older and perhaps more appreciative of the risks the Jackasses took through the whole series, heralded this honestly as proof of his dedication to the craft. Suddenly he wasn’t just a sleazy comedian, he was officially a provocateur comedian and a stylish silver fox.
“Johnny Knoxville” is shorthand for a character, show, and era with the added bonus of being a charming man who is down for whatever. He’s the perfect person to have on an interview couch and the perfect cheeky cameo. John Waters understood this in 2005 when he put Johnny Knoxville in his movie, A Dirty Shame, to play a concussed cult leader. This is all to say, this status was hard-fought and well-deserved.
Some fans argue that Knoxville is trapped in this person and doomed to typecasting, and I think this would be true if it were still 2010 and he was still auditioning for dramatic roles and frustrated with Jackass. But it’s 2025 and I think that he, as someone who has now in the later years of his career gained actual auteur respect for his comedic creations and boundary breaking, is fine with being a synonym for Jackass. I think that respect and notoriety is all he wanted in the first place.
Jackass Podcast Count: 1
steve-o
Steve-O is a wellness podcaster now.
Steve-O has three main things these days. He has a very popular podcast, a very popular road show, and a semi-popular hot sauce line. He has always had road shows, so that’s not new, I think it’s cool that he’s still doing gross out bits live. What’s interesting is that the podcast is also not really a new thing to him either.
It’s clear how he got here. Throughout his compendium, he’s spoken at length about his obsession with documenting his life. This comes primarily through filming, which he has done since he first got a camera as a teenager. Steve-O has simply always filmed himself doing whatever it is he does, meaning he’s vlogged his whole life for both himself and an undefinable audience. Beyond that, he also wrote his first memoir in college and published two actual books in the following decades. Now, alongside TV shows, interviews, and comedy show tapings, he has a podcast, which is, of course, filmed.
His podcast, Steve-O’s Wild Ride!, is a celebrity-filled, weekly-ish project that boasts recent guests like Bret Michaels, Lance Armstrong, and Mark Wahlberg. I have not tuned into a lot of episodes for a reason I’ll list below, but he centers mental health, physical health, and storytelling in his conversations, all with that instantly recognizable scratchy voice. The podcast feels a lot like reading his latest book in that he seems to really want genuine conversations on life-improvement and reaching personal goals.
What’s both shocking and not shocking at all is that his podcast orbits the Manosphere. Shocking in the sense that this is Steve-O we’re talking about and not shocking in the sense that, well, this is Steve-O we’re talking about. I say orbits because it doesn’t seem to be there purposefully. From what I can tell, it got this way because Steve-O will simply interview anyone — friends, other MTV stars, musicians, comedians, influencers from the darkest corners of the Zynternet, the pillars of the Dirtbag Left, that one guy trying to stop aging, and like every hair metal frontman under the sun — regardless of political leanings. (And everyone seems to just want to talk about one person when they’re on the show: Bam.) If Steve-O wanted Steve-O’s Wild Ride!, to be fully in the Manosphere, it would be. His proximity is rather a testament to the conservative state of wellness talk and podcasting now. Like, because Steve-O is trying to remain popular in online spaces dominated by men (a space that he originally helped carve out), now the dude who got famous for swallowing a goldfish in 2000 is in the same atmosphere as guys who lost $200 on DraftKings today and think women shouldn’t have rights.
What’s weird is that in 2025, Steve-O is also numerically the most famous he has ever been, which is weird because he is also not in the public consciousness anymore, at least not in the way Knoxville is. Like, in A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions, Steve-O points out (unpromoted) that he has more Instagram followers than Johnny Knoxville. Yet, it was Johnny Knoxville who was on a late night comedy show last week with 3 movies and a TV show episode scheduled for release this year. Not O.
I don’t know, I think it’s very Of The Times that one of the greatest 21st century daredevils has almost fully rebranded into a social media wellness influencer.
Oh, I forgot to circle back on the hot sauce. It’s probably fine.
Jackass Podcast Count: 2
chris pontius
Mostly, Pontius is really just doing usual Pontius stuff: hanging out, throwing knives, listening to metal, but there’s something else he is doing that is pretty noteworthy. He’s running a Jackass Cinematic Universe nostalgia podcast. That is not what it is marketed as, it’s just called The Pontius Show and he hosts it with his beloved wife, but in practice it’s about getting the crew from Jackass, Big Brother, and affiliated acts in front of a mic to laugh about whatever and tell stories. It’s not a very regular podcast (like Steve-O’s Wild Ride!), just something he does when he feels like it, but you can see a clear pattern in his guests: Rick Kosick, Rachel Wolfson, Steve-O, Dave England, and Jeff Tremaine.
I want to make it clear that I am not being a hater about this, I like podcasts where people just shoot the shit and the Jackass Cinematic Universe is something I want to hear stories about. Someone was going to do the nostalgia podcast, I’m fine with it being Pontius behind the mic.
Jackass Podcast Count: 3
dave england
I also think England could have rocked the podcast mic.
He’s a fairly genuine guy and a very entertaining storyteller which made me predict that he was the most likely to get into the personal nostalgia business. But he didn’t. He started a Youtube channel. He got into hummingbirds. He is genuinely just hanging out. His Instagram is pretty funny.
Something really cool he worked on recently is a short film called It’s Showtime by Brennan Stasiewicz. According to the official description it’s about being an aging Jackass star online. Kind of on the money for this essay topico It’s currently circulating in some short film fests but I am excited to see it. This is the kind of thing I wish all the guys were up to. Self-aware short films.
wee man
There was one other Jackass star in Everybody's Live with John Mulaney. Did you catch it?
If you watched the episode, you might have noticed that when Mulaney visits the tailor, the camera holds on an autographed picture of Jason “Wee Man” Acuña that the gentleman has on his wall. This is because Wee Man was a celebrity before Jackass and he will be a celebrity after Jackass and beyond.
Next to Knoxville, he’s probably the guy invited to the most public appearances with some WWE stunts, skate fests, comedy shows, and most recently, the promo for Suicidal Tendencies’ new song and tour. Wee Man is also the 4th member of the crew to have a podcast — Lil Revolution, which he co-hosts with Pancho Moler. Basically, you name it, he’s doing it.
Jackass Podcast Count: 4
danger ehren
Do you guys know the movie The Sandlot? I am assuming you do since you’re reading a Jackass blog. Those seem to go together. Anyway, at the end there’s a part where Scotty Smalls, the narrator, explains what the characters went on to do after they grew up: like Michael “Squints” Palledorous married Wendy Peffercorn, Hamilton “Ham” Porter became a wrestler called The Great Hambino, and Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez went on to play in the majors. Well there’s one character, he’s just named Bertram, and when it gets to him in the finale, Smalls’ narration is just like, idk we never heard from him again. That’s the best way I can describe what “Danger” Ehren McGhehey has been up to. You never hear from him these days.
preston lacy
See: Danger Ehren’s entry. With the exception of a random Instagram post, comedy show, or an appearance at a midnight screening of Jackass with Wee Man, where are these guys?
bam margera
I don’t need to tell you what Bam’s deal is, there’s a million gross, exploitative, one hour YouTube videos you can go watch that will take you through the bullet points of what his deal is. But WARNING! they will conclude that he’s pathetic and cursed which is cruel. Everyone knows that Bam has been in a really tough place this past decade but I also think people want Bam to be doing worse than he is. As of 2025, he is a newlywed, he’s shooting skating videos, he’s crushing 90 verts like it’s nothing, he’s doing public appearances, he’s hanging out at music festivals, he’s even posting on his Finsta. He’s okay.
I check a couple Jackass Reddit pages from time to time, including one called r/LetsTalkBam which is mostly just a dedicated group of Bam’s fans who have a genuine investment in monitoring how he’s doing. I think they mean well but the page can be very gossipy. Overall, it’s very helpful when I am trying to track Bam updates. But I do have news that I first saw pieced together in the comments over there.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4 was announced earlier this year. Over on r/LetsTalkBam, this immediately launched speculation on the page about whether Bam, who had been in the series previously, would be included now. The list of featured skaters came out. Bam was not on it. Disappointing and very controversial on the Reddit page. But. Then, people dug up a reply Jess Margera (who’s band, CKY, is featured in the THPS3+4 soundtrack) posted on Twitter saying that Bam and Tony Hawk had skated together recently and were on good terms. Hawk and Bam shared a video of said skating session. This could only mean one thing. Everyone on r/LetsTalkBam, and also me, waited and waited until finally word broke from IGN that Hawk went to Activision and demanded that Bam be added to the nearly-complete game. Activision said no. Hawk said he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Now, as we speak, Activision is allegedly adding Bam to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4.
I am not an expert in video games, but I think this news is fair and speaks to both Hawk’s character as a mentor to Bam and acknowledges that Bam was one of the reasons the original games were so popular. I am not an expert at discussing sobriety or addiction, but Bam seems to be doing well despite a couple corners of the Internet who seem to secretly want him to be tragic. I feel positive about his path to recovery. Sometime this summer you can go to a video game convention meet and greet and tell him to his face that you’re playing as him in your fav skateboarding video game.
final thoughts
My final thought: there’s too many podcasts. There can not be four original guys from Jackass doing a podcast.
My actual final thoughts are these questions: Is it enough to know that you will always be remembered for doing something really new 25 years ago? Is it enough to know that you will always be remembered for being weird and fun but breaking your body for an audience? Do you feel like your audience owes you? Is it enough to know that you absolutely changed the TV and the Internet even if you don’t always see the constant proof?
It must be so weird to be one of these guys and have this thing that made you C-list famous be so innovative but so emotionally complicated and financially dry at times. I also think it's interesting how many of these guys choose to be in a place that I’ll call the semi-public eye. Not out of the spotlight, just not an icon like Knoxville. I guess I have my final question: are you jealous of Johnny Knoxville and his acclaim?
next up for jackass world
Let’s just say that this will not be the last time video games get brought up on here. See you soon.
bonus
Whoa…why did you scroll all the way down here. I guess you’re a real Jackasshead. So I’ll let you know that Manny Puig, the wildlife expert from Jackass and Wildboyz, is unsurprisingly up to some cool stuff. Namely, metalworking and weaponry crafting.
Credit: Manny Puig’s Instagram