Steve-O Admits His Biggest Mistake Before Making 'Jackass Forever' With Johnny Knoxville

By Stephen Andrew

Jackass Forever is just weeks away from release, and longtime franchise cast member Steve-O recently admits the biggest mistake he made with Johnny Knoxville, before they made the new film. Speaking to Variety, Steve-O revealed that when contract negotiations began for the fourth film, he felt entitled to more than he was initially being offered. This lead to conflict with Knoxville, causing a "rift" between the two old friends.

"You know, frankly, I felt that over the last 10 years that I'd really worked extremely hard to build momentum for myself as a brand in my own right. I wanted to retroactively stick up for myself," Steve-O told Variety. "Over the course of Jackass, I had never so much as countered. I never pushed back. I built myself up. I deserved more now because I worked for more. When my entertainment attorney says 'OK, go for it,' then I'm going to go for it." Owning up to his part in the tense situation, Steve-O said, "I could have gone about it a lot more smoothly, and I didn't."

He confessed, "I blurted shit out during interviews that was counterproductive, so that's what really pissed off Knoxville. We had a little rift, you know?" Ultimately, Steve-O did not get the raise he was pushing for. He explained that the negotiations ended when "my lawyer finally called me up and said, 'Hey, take it, dude. This is going to get ugly.'" Steve-O added that his film salary "might have gone up the smallest fraction of a number. But it did not go up in any sense for me to call it a win."

Pay disagreements aside, Steve-O still has nothing but positive feelings toward his fellow Jackass cast and crew, saying, "the point is without fail, throughout the history of this franchise, as soon as we've gotten together in one place, there's this unbelievable magical chemistry. It was not different this time. It felt more noticeable this time because I had really tried to put up that fight in the contracts."

Jackass crashed into pop culture in the early 2000s with a hilarious and controversial series on MTV. In 2002, the first film, Jackass: The Movie, debuted and was massively successful. That film was followed by two more: 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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