Jackass Forever

[Jerzy Bondov]

Awww come on Bam I got work in the morning quit tryin to sue Knoxville Bam aww jeez

[AsparagusTrevor]

Awww come on Bam I got work in the morning quit tryin to sue Knoxville Bam aww jeez

"Ape, he's startin' ta lose it"

[BeardFaceMan]

"Bam Margera, what will he do next?"
"Sue my lifelong friends after I broke a contract I signed designed to help keep me sober and out of trouble."

[Sonny_Jim]

Just reading the complaint and a few things seemed interesting but IANAL:

"Welcome to Jackass." These words defined a generation. They also defined the better part of Margera's life—a man whose name has been synonymous with Jackass since he created the franchise when he was barely out of his teens.

Margera created Jackass long before the show hit MTV in 2000. Indeed, the freshman season of the television show was comprised mainly of footage Margera shot with his own CKY Crew (defined below) long before he ever met Tremaine,

This is odd as whilst he did contribute to the general idea and 'formula', he's never listed as one of the creators of Jackass.  I can't see that going down too well .  Paramount will argue that Bam wasn't a co-creator and if he had a problem with not being credited as such, then why did he chose to continue appearing on Jackass?

Margera was subject to countless breathalyzer and urinalysis tests, which he submitted to and passed repeatedly for
several months without objection or incident.

Ok, so he's been taking Adderall for 10yrs, but he repeatedly passed tests?  Hmmmm.

Margera did not violate the Wellness Agreement. Rather, Defendants' wrongful
termination of Margera stems from the fact that one of the numerous drug tests Margera was
forced to submit to demonstrated that he was taking prescription Adderall. 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

So Bam is saying that he'd been taking the drug all along and that it was Paramount who decided one day out of the blue to cut him out of the project.  Hmmm...

Defendant Philip John "P.J." Clapp, professionally known as Johnny Knoxville, is
an actor and co-creator of the Jackass franchise who will appear in the upcoming film, Jackass
Forever. He is a California citizen who resides in Los Angeles, California.

Here they are referring to Knoxville as a co-creator, in the same document that they said Bam was the creator.

The true names, identities, or capacities, whether individual, corporate, associate, or
otherwise, of Defendants DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, are unknown to Plaintiffs, who therefore
sue said Defendants by such fictitious names. When the true names, identities, or capacities of
such fictitiously designated defendants are ascertained,

Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that each of the Defendants
sued herein as a DOE is responsible in some manner and liable herein for negligent, wanton,
reckless, and tortious conduct, and/or strict liability, and by such wrongful conduct, proximately
caused Plaintiffs' injuries and damages.

So it's a bit of a shotgun approach, saying that there's 50 John Does that caused harm to Bam and they'll fill in the blanks later.  Apparently it's a fairly normal thing to do.

Jackass' freshman season featured Margera, his CKY Crew, and his family in videos Margera shot and directed on his own, before he was ever put in touch with the Jackass
cast and crew

So that's interesting, but ultimately worthless to his argument.  I had no idea some of the Bam stuff wasn't even shot specifically for Jackass.  He would have been financially remunerated and you could argue that Jackass did Bam the favour of giving him more exposure.  Also 'freshman season' seems like a very weird way to word it.  I'm starting to get Barry Zuckercorn vibes.

Approximately two years ago, after Margera purportedly engaged in activities that
Defendants interpreted to mean Margera was drunk, Tremaine's assistant approached Margera,
stating that Tremaine and the remaining Defendants insisted that Margera appear on the Dr. Phil
show to do damage control. It is unsurprising that Defendants chose to prioritize their image over
any genuine concern for Margera, booking him media appearances rather than approaching him in
any meaningful or compassionate way about his perceived issues

Trying to create a narrative that they forced him away from help and into media appearances.  Again, hmmmm....

While Margera maintains that his consumption of prescription Adderall was not a breach of the
unenforceable Wellness Agreement, he nonetheless took "curative" steps to assuage Defendants'
potential concerns. That is, Margera immediately checked himself into a rehabilitation facility.
Approximately three days into his stay, he received a text message from Jonze, Knoxville and
Tremaine communicating that, Margera's willingness to go to a rehabilitation facility
notwithstanding, Defendants would not budge from their decision to terminate Margera.
Defendants thus did not give Margera any opportunity to cure his supposed breach of the
Agreement

This bit is semi-important, as they have to prove that they tried other methods of seeking relief[nb]fnarr fnarr[/nb] before heading to the courts.

If they had, he would have reiterated what they already knew—that he takes Adderall
as prescribed by his doctor for his health.

Notice they don't mention the frequency that he was supposed to be taking them, so presumably he had a prescription for Adderal, wasn't taking them during the previous drug tests, then took one and got pinged for it.

In May 2021, after Margera's affiliation with Jackass was terminated, Defendants
Jonze, Knoxville, Tremaine and Dickhouse, in what can only be viewed as an admission of their
wrongdoing towards Margera, purported to set up a trust fund for the benefit of Margera's threeyear-old son as a grossly insufficient settlement offer. The illusory trust, which came with many
strings attached, was not executed.
57. Nonetheless, Defendants communicated to Margera's mother, April Margera, that
the trust would hold $2.5 million in funds

Now this does make Bam look like a piece of shit, as they offered $2.5M to be paid to his kid, only for him to treat it like an admission of guilt.

In order to get BMI to sign the Agreement, Defendants falsely promised Margera
that they would only terminate him for cause, and in good faith, all the while never intending to
fulfill that promise. Rather, Defendants at all times intended to employ Margera long enough that
he would develop ideas for content, stunts and pranks featured in the movie, and then terminate
him once those ideas were received, and refuse to pay him anything for his work.

They spell it out here, that they were going to fire Bam all along after they had stolen all of his good ideas.

Furthermore, it deprived Margera of
anticipated new income and caused him additional damage totaling at least $20,000,000, which he
seeks to recover herein in an amount proven at trial.

So there you go.  He doesn't want $2.5M for his kid, he wants $20M for himself.  I'm sure there's more but I think that's enough for one post.

EDIT

Defendants' wrongful termination of Margera from Jackass 4 was also unlawful
because it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The Americans with
Disabilities Act ("ADA") provides, in pertinent part: "No covered entity shall discriminate against
a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring,
advancement or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment."

I mean, fucking hell.....

EDIT2:

If I had to guess, Paramount will settle for an amount that's less than $20M and Bam will spend it all on drugs and hypercars.

EDIT3:
And here's his lawyer in a Prager U video.  He really knows how to pick 'em....

[BeardFaceMan]

Wow, what a genuine piece of shit he is.

Trying to create a narrative that they forced him away from help and into media appearances.  Again, hmmmm....

That's the bit I don't buy for a second, they clearly wanted to help Bam in the same way that they helped Steve-O.

[Sonny_Jim]

It's a narrative, but the only real argument to be tested is whether Paramount knew about the Adderall.  The coercion stuff is pretty much bollocks, he didn't have to sign the wellness agreement at all if he didn't want to.

It's incredibly shitty to see him turn against his mates who seem to be only trying to help him get better.

[Replies From View]

Isn't Adderall a prescribed antipsychotic?  I am confused about why it was an issue for him to test positive for it.

[BeardFaceMan]

If he signed a contract saying he can't take Adderall (which is basically speed, it's used to improve concentration, there's a big black market for it in the US) it doesn't matter if he has a prescription for it, or maybe it was about the levels of it in his blood. It can't be just about the Adderrall though, didn't Steve-O say something like all Bam had to do was show up for work and not be loaded and he couldn't do it?

Still, a 20 million dollar lawsuit is a step up from sending death threats, that's progress, I suppose.

[Bernice]

Isn't Adderall a prescribed antipsychotic?  I am confused about why it was an issue for him to test positive for it.

It's an amphetamine prescribed for ADD and often used recreationally.

[Sonny_Jim]

It can't be just about the Adderrall though

From Bams perspective, no.  As it's written it makes it seem like Bam was this little flower (with mental health issues) who's pollen was repeatedly plucked and sold by the nefarious Jackass team.  It's very obviously sour grapes on his part.

From Paramounts perspective, that's really the only claim that has any substance, whether Bam didn't honor the terms of the contract he signed.  It should be cut and dry, all they have to do is pull the records from whatever testing place they used and go:

'Your Honor, in this contract it says 'If Bam does XYZ drugs then contract over', here's the full results for each week.  No other week did he test positive.  He never mentioned that he was prescribed Adderall, we are unable to produce evidence that he told us'.

In any case, California has laws that state 'If your employee tests positive you can fire them' and that you can require drug tests in the first place.  So really the only leverage Bam has is whether he can convince the judge that he had told Paramount about the Adderall prescription.

[Chollis]

awww cmon bam i aint tryna get my film sunked

[The Mollusk]

Thanks for the detailed analysis, S_J. A very interesting and bleak set of events.

[BeardFaceMan]

"Everyone bent over backwards to get you in the movie, and all you had to do was not get loaded. You've continued to get loaded, it's that simple."

That was Steve-O's response to Bam when he was fired, makes it sound like a bit more than a positive Adderall test.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

We watched the first film the other day, which contains an example of Margerine's dickishness in the opening minute or so. He hits Knoxville in the back of the head and laughs, only to get furious and lash back when Ryan Dunn does the same thing to him.

Now this does make Bam look like a piece of shit, as they offered $2.5M to be paid to his kid, only for him to treat it like an admission of guilt.

So there you go.  He doesn't want $2.5M for his kid, he wants $20M for himself.

Just to play devil's advocate, why wouldn't he? He could give his kid the $2.5M himself and keep the rest. Seems like the best deal from his point of view, since he's probably unemployable.

[Replies From View]

Just to play devil's advocate, why wouldn't he? He could give his kid the $2.5M himself and keep the rest. Seems like the best deal from his point of view, since he's probably unemployable.

Except he isn't going to get $20 million by the looks of it.


Also, I assume he could have accepted the $2.5 million and then still attempted to gain an additional $20 million.



They make this sum of money seem so trivial.  Why not give me merely half a million of your American dollars?  I'll then quietly fuck off and won't bother you again.

[Goldentony]

the Big Brother videos predate CKY by a few years, not sure why you'd put something so easily disproven in a lawsuit

[thelittlemango]

the Big Brother videos predate CKY by a few years, not sure why you'd put something so easily disproven in a lawsuit

They had a slightly different vibe though, and they actually used CKY footage in the film. From being massively into skateboarding at the time, CKY was the first to create a personality based crew video full of stunts, pranks and skits from recurring characters you slowly got to know. The Big Brother stuff felt more like standalone stunts that were pushed within skate culture because of the offbeat nature of the magazine and didn't have the same cultural impact as what Bam and the crew were doing.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah but it was the Big Brother guys who created Jackass and then brought in Bam who brought his CKY footage with him. Bam is acting like Jackass sprung from CKY, which is bullshit. And Bam had far more cultural impact through Jackass than CKY, CKY only really became big and known because of Jackass, and Knoxville was doing stunts for Big Brother before the first CKY vid came out. Suprise, suprise, but Bam is massively overstating his importance. Any kind of cultural impact any of those guys had was with Jackass, not CKY or Big Brother, those may have had a small underground influence, but the mainstream didn't take any notice until Jackass.

[Sonny_Jim]

Thanks for the detailed analysis, S_J. A very interesting and bleak set of events.

Thanks, although I admit to knowing slightly less than fuck all when it comes to legal stuff, so take my interpretation with a pinch of salt.

Who knows, maybe Bam will pull out a piece of paper from Paramount saying 'you can take Adderall, all good' but even then I'm pretty sure his case isn't going to be that strong.

Best case for Bam.is that he kicks up enough of a stink for Paramount to swat him away with a couple million. 

[Noodle Lizard]

Who knows, maybe Bam will pull out a piece of paper from Paramount saying 'you can take Adderall, all good' but even then I'm pretty sure his case isn't going to be that strong.

Yeah, again - it's not as if it's in Paramount's (or the crew's) interests to lose him from their movie, especially when they're already down a member. Also, between the lawyers and other accommodations, it was probably quite costly to get him on board in the first place. Seems odd that they'd go through all the trouble of getting him on board if their plan all along was to oust him unfairly, knowing he has the means to sue them and would probably win if it was, indeed, unfair.

I think (Steve-)Occam's Razor applies here; Bam's an unstable addict who relapses often, and he broke the terms of his contract. It's a shame, and he clearly needs help, but from Wikipedia it seems as though he has a tendency to enter rehab and then leave within a week or two stating "it's not for him" - a very common pattern for addicts who don't really want to stop using yet.

[BritishHobo]

Indeed. And the note about Bam entering rehab but this not being enough for the Jackass guys is an odd one. Surely it works against his case, as the whole point of the agreement was to avoid a relapse disrupting the flow of production, and him being in rehab would mean they couldn't do any filming without having to leave him out. It proves them right for having the agreement in the first place.

It's just sad all round, isn't it? It sounds like he saw the film as a guaranteed paycheck coming his way, and he's more annoyed about missing out on that than anything else. I guess his fee would have set him for another number of years without having to worry. Meanwhile the others wanted to hang out and make the film, but knowing that Bam was sober and okay.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I bet he ends up working in a supermarket in West Chester like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.

"Hey, aren't you Bam Margera?"
"Nah, sorry buddy. You've got me mixed up with somebody else. How many slices of pastrami do you want?"

[Ham Bap]

I bet he ends up working in a supermarket in West Chester like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.

"Hey, aren't you Bam Margera?"
"Nah, sorry buddy. You've got me mixed up with somebody else. How many slices of pastrami do you want?"

I need to watch The Wrestler again. I like the bit when he scoops the pasta into the plastic container.

[A Hat Like That]

I remember Action Point being sort of alright, if forgettable (directed by Tim Kirkby, in case you wanted to know what links Stewart Lee and Chris Pontius). I don't think doing the stunts "for real" really works in a traditional narrative movie, though - obviously they can't show any of the aftermath if it goes badly since it's all in character, and I don't remember seeing anything in there that couldn't have been done using traditional (safe) stunt techniques. So it seems like Knoxville got the shit beat out of him for nothing, to the point where he couldn't show half his face for a good portion of the movie due to one of his eyes bulging out.

A good documentary on the actual theme park it's based on would've been preferable.

This was on midweek.

Its completely inconsequential. The stunts really are jackass-like. The biggest laugh so far has been Chris Pontius in the radio/TV station. Or the alcoholic bear. I've enjoyed.

From the real Action Park wiki:

The park entertained over one million visitors per year during the 1980s, with as many as 12,000 coming on some of the busiest weekends. Park officials said this made the injury and death rate statistically insignificant.

right.

[Psychotic Mongoose]

New trailer and promo clip

https://youtu.be/p74bzf-beGc

https://youtu.be/yGOTX3qN-Dc

[JamesTC]

Saw it before. Really enjoyed it. More stunts with the new people than I expected but it does seem that the old team can't quite do as many of the more dangerous stunts. Not that it stopped Knoxville and Steve-O from concussions.

Highlight of the film was when Preston...

Spoiler alert

...shits himself when trying to fart and the cameraman throws up in his mask.

[close]

And actually I'd say most of the best moments came from Preston. He didn't do loads, but what he did do was all gold.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Wasn't this meant to be out early last year, or am I mistaken? There was a whole load of publicity in early 21 that made it seem like it was coming out then.

[Magnum Valentino]

Saw it before. Really enjoyed it. More stunts with the new people than I expected but it does seem that the old team can't quite do as many of the more dangerous stunts. Not that it stopped Knoxville and Steve-O from concussions.

Highlight of the film was when Preston...

Spoiler alert

...shits himself when trying to fart and the cameraman throws up in his mask.

[close]

And actually I'd say most of the best moments came from Preston. He didn't do loads, but what he did do was all gold.

He's one of the main writers isn't he? Always liked Preston.

[BritishHobo]

Yeah Preston was lovely in this. I sort of wanted to give him a cuddle when he was saying

Spoiler alert

he'd shit his pants. "I'm a grown man!"

[close]

Ehren has to be the standout though. I know he's always been a bit of a punching bag, but

Spoiler alert

the amount of shit he went through in this one, jesus christ. The cup test, and the bear? All credit to him.

[close]

Spoiler alert

The Silence of the Lambs and the Wee Man/vulture stunts were my favourite though. Just honestly insane.

[close]

The new cast were great, fit in easily and were properly game for a lot of shit.

Spoiler alert

Poopies, Rachel and Zach all knocked it out of the park.

[close]

[Magnum Valentino]

Is this AVAILABLE or am I going to the cinema with all the other 30 something Jackass fans?