Bam Margera is on one the most hellish rollercoaster rides we’ve seen in a minute.
After a decade of fame and fortune from skateboarding, the Jackass film franchise and Viva La Bam, Margera’s own TV show, the next decade has not been nearly as kind. Since fellow Jackass star Ryan Dunn’s drunk driving death in 2011, Margera has been on a scary downward spiral.
Years of mental health issues and alcohol and substance abuse have lead to multiple arrests and at the beginning of 2021, his firing from the Jackass franchise.
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Amidst the fallout from his Jackass firing, Margera reportedly sent death threats to director Jeff Tremaine and his children and was hit with a restraining order as a result. The skateboarder ultimately sued Jackass but just last week, Margera was escorted to a Florida rehab facility after police responded to reports of his “concerning behavior” at a St. Pete hotel.
Tremaine, who says he still loves Bam “like a brother,” has recently claimed in legal documents that Margera is “a danger to himself and others” when he is intoxicated and that his recent behavior “has brought a dark cloud over the (Jackass) franchise.”
Among the legal documents, TMZ reported, was a sobriety contract Margera entered into with Tremaine, co-star Johnny Knoxville and executive producer, Spike Jonze.
In the contract, Margera agreed that he would “remain sober and only take medication approved by the medical staff of the treatment center,” and understood that if he did participate “in a new Jackass film it will include conditions for (his) continued sobriety and mental health approved by the treatment center.”
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Tremaine who made these claims in response to Margera’s lawsuit against he and other Jackass members, also claimed that Margera “stopped cooperating with his wellness program in July 2020 and began taking illicit amphetamines,” and that the Jackass crew “tried to find a way for Bam to be in the movie, but Bam’s wellness coach shut them down.”
The franchise’s next film Jackass Forever, is set to release in 2022, and while it’s obvious he will not be involved with any aspect of the fourth installment, everybody he did the first three films with seems to want Margera to do what’s best for him and his mental health before even considering re-integrating into the franchise.
Whether that happens is yet to be seen and all we can do is watch as Margera attempts to find the road to recovery.
Let us know what you think of the Bam Margera situation in the comments below and let us know if you’ll be checking for Jackass Forever when it drops in February.
[Via]