The upcoming comedy movie, Jackass Forever, is facing some legal trouble as former star Bam Margera has filed a lawsuit against the hit franchise’s team, and a number of his former collaborators and co-stars. According to Variety, the suit includes Paramount Pictures, Johnny Knoxville, MTV Networks, the film’s director Jeff Tremaine, producer Spike Jonze, and more.
Bam Margera is one of the original Jackass stars, and a familiar face in the franchise, appearing in both its TV series, and subsequent movies. The star has also been in and out of rehab over the years. Variety reports that after violating the terms of a “wellness agreement” by testing positive for Adderall, Margera was fired from the highly anticipated movie last year.
According to his lawsuit, the star was coerced into signing the wellness agreement while in rehab back in 2019, being told if he didn’t agree, he’d be excluded from the franchise going forward. It also states how he has held a prescription for Adderall for over ten years for his attention deficit disorder, yet was still let go from the project.
“Margera did not slip up. He followed the provisions of the Wellness Agreement to a tee, at great personal cost,” the complaint states. “Defendants’ treatment of Margera exacerbated his mental health issues and led to suicidal thoughts. But still, Margera persevered — only to have the rug pulled out from under him.”
The suit also claims that the star filmed many scenes before his firing from Jackass Forever, and a number of his ideas are being used in the production’s final cut. It further alleges that Margera signed the agreement “without being given the chance to run it by an attorney”. The lawsuit asks for monetary relief and reveals Margera’s hope that the court stops the release of the movie, which is currently scheduled for October 22.
Knoxville addressed the legal situation back in May during an interview with GQ. “We want Bam [Margera] to be happy and healthy and get the help he needs,” he said. “We tried to push that along. I think that’s all I really want to say about it….I don’t want to get into public back-and-forth with Bam. I just want him to get better.”