Bam Margera Speaks Out About His Addictions And 'Jackass 4' Firing

Speaking on the latest episode of Steve-O's Wild Ride! podcast, Jackass star Bam Margera candidly covered his experiences of rehab, addiction and his relationships with the rest of the Jackass crew.

Margera struggles with alcoholism and mental illness, and after Paramount Pictures fired him from Jackass Forever as a result of these personal problems, the stunt performer expressed his disdain for Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, and Spike Jonze for a perceived lack of support. Margera also sued Tremaine, Knoxville, Jonze, Paramount Pictures, MTV, Dickhouse Entertainment and Gorilla Flicks for his unjust cancellation of his contract, though the legal action was settled in April of this year. Since then, he has completed twelve months of sobriety treatment, but fled his rehab centre twice in June before being checked into a new facility.

In the podcast, Steve-O drew a comparison between Margera's exclusion from Jackass Forever and his own 14 day psychiatric hold in 2008 which came about from concerns for his wellbeing from friends including Johnny Knoxville. Margera didn't sound so convinced.

"I've got so much to say," he replied. "In Jackass 2, I got drunk at the LA airport with brass knuckles, I got a f*cking felony charge and I got high-fived for 'good press'. Now [filming Jackass Forever], I wind up sipping a beer in front of a hotel on TMZ and I get kicked out for being a liability. It's f*cking ridiculous." Steve-O said that he would "entertain" some of that statement, adding that at the time that Jackass 2 was being filmed, no one had evident problems with addiction, alcohol, drugs or "public meltdowns".

"At a certain point... it stopped being fun. It stopped being funny," continued Steve-O and reiterated that Margera needed to see some consequences for his addictions. "We were watching you self-destruct." Margera responded with a few anecdotes from rehabilitation, like one where he said he would "jump off a bridge", not realising that the centre would take such terminology seriously, when Margera himself jumped off bridges for fun in Jackass. He told Steve-O that he was ready to end his abuse of alcohol last year in the Arizona facility, but in order for his treatment to be complete, he needed to remain in the Florida facility until the staff were content that he had progressed enough.

Steve-O then asked what Margera would be doing to ensure his sobriety. "Just go to meetings, hang out with sober people, get a sponsor, maybe Connor again, I really liked him," responded Margera. "And my phone is just programmed with a very select few of just sober people."

"I love it," praised his former co-star. "I mean, dude, that's the first time that you've ever said anything that sounded like you had some willingness to join the team."