It was only a few weeks ago that Jackass Forever premiered its first trailer, however, the movie’s development has been plagued by countless issues beyond the expected cast member injuries as it’s now been exposed in a recent lawsuit from former Jackass star Bam Margera.
As one of Jackass’ standout performers, Margera was naturally brought back for Jackass Forever, although in February of this year he was fired from the movie leading to Margera instantly firing back on social media. Margera has struggled with alcoholism for the past decade leading to several public incidents throughout the course of his career, with the latest of these being a successful restraining order attained by Jackass director Jeff Tremaine back in early June, due to Margera sending repeated threats against his family.
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Nevertheless, Margera and his attorneys believed he was wronged by Paramount Pictures and the rest of Jackass Forever production team, including Johnny Knoxville and director Spike Jonze, who -according to the lawsuit- coerced Margera into entering a lopsided “Wellness Agreement” that is the main subject of his controversial firing. Per court documents obtained by Variety, Paramount and the rest of the defendants’ treatment of Margera was “inhumane” and discriminatory, forcing him to take repeated drug tests until he was fired for allegedly taking prescription Adderall.
The lawsuit goes on to name several other forms of wrongdoing Margera was subjected to but mostly centers around wrongful termination, breach of contract, fraud, and, most crucially, intentional infliction of emotional distress. Margera’s attorney’s even cited Britney Spears’ notorious conservatorship case as a similar example where a vulnerable party was taken advantage of by a group of individuals and companies, in a matter that might not be completely dissimilar to Scarlett Johansson's claim against Disney.
As of this moment, none of the defendants have addressed the lawsuit publicly, nevertheless, back in May Knoxville told GQ he didn’t wish to fight Margera in any war saying “I just want to get better”. In the now-deleted Instagram posts dating back to his firing, a clearly inebriated Margera ranted on about the kind of stress he had been submitted to for over a year, claiming he would hate to go to court against his friends while being angered about the thought that his ideas would end up being used in some of Jackass's stunts anyhow.
For those who grew to love Jackass’ wild and gross stunts thanks to the early 2000s MTV, Margera’s story will certainly resonate as he was one of the franchise's most beloved cast members. Regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome, anyone can echo Knoxville's wishes for Bam to eventually gets better so that can sort out his own inner demons too.
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Source: Variety
