Johnny Knoxville Reveals Scary Brain Injury He Suffered From 'Jackass Forever' Stunt

By Allison Schonter

Johnny Knoxville is opening up about a scary Jackass Forever stunt that left him with brain damage. Ahead of the film's upcoming release, the famed stuntman appeared on The Howard Stern Show on Jan. 25, revealing that his "cognitive abilities were in steep decline" after he got charged at by a bull for a stunt that left him with a broken wrist, broken ribs, and a concussion that resulted in a brain hemorrhage.

Reflecting on the terrifying stunt, Knoxville admitted that "the bull hit was the worst hit I've ever taken from a bull or maybe period." Aside from the bruises and broken bones, Knoxville suffered brain damage from the stunt, the stunt performer recalling how shortly after the incident, he underwent a series of tests. Knoxville said, "The neurosurgeon said, 'Do you have trouble paying attention right now?' I said, 'Yeah, why?' He goes, 'Because you scored a 17 on [your attention].' That's out of 100."

"I had to go under all these types of treatments, this transcranial magnetic stimulation, which they buzz your head with these magnets for about 30 minutes at a time for like, oh God, I would say 10 to 12 treatments over a series of two months and it's supposed to help with depression and help with my cognitive skills," Knoxville, who shared that "no one in my family is happy with the stunts," recalled. "It was a tough one to come back from. I was trying to edit the movie at the time but I couldn't sit still."

Knoxville revealed that following the stunt and amid his recovery, he "did slip into a little bit of a depression with this last concussion," something that he said "hasn't happened before." The Jackass star said his "brain was just playing tricks on me" and he "got really depressed and over-focused on things." He added that he "did have to start medication for the first time in my life. It completely turned me around – that and doing therapy. It was a really hard recovery from this last injury, but I'm great now. I feel like I'm the healthiest I've ever been."

Set to release in theaters on Friday, Feb. 4, Jackass Forever will mark his last outing with the franchise, Knoxville having revealed in May 2021 that he would be officially retiring from extreme stunts with the film. Further opening up about his decision to fully step away from the dangerous business, Knoxville told Stern that he believes he's "done enough" extreme stunts, explaining that he "can't take any more hits to the head."

Jackass crashed into pop culture in the early 2000s with the controversial series on MTV. In 2002, the first film, Jackass: The Movie, debuted and was massively successful. It was followed by 2006's Jackass Number Two and 2010's Jackass 3D. The fourth film, Jackass Forever, opens in theaters on Feb. 4.

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