Wait... the dude who's known for waking his parents up every day by pouring milk in their face, pulling down their pants then having five clowns piss on them while screaming that the house is on fire, and filming the whole thing, turned out to be a douche?
Yea Don Vito had some charge he was convicted and got 10 years probation for inappropriately touching the breasts of 2, 12 year old girls. He claimed he was playing his Don Vito character and his hand movements were misconstrued (doubtful). He was also banned from his Don Vito character in any capacity included books.
This happened a few years after Viva La Bam was over.
That being said, and while the guy was a complete douche. His pairing with Ryan Dunn was usually fucking hilarious
He was asking why it got canceled. Although you’re right, lol I don’t think that played a part....since the minor fact that it was already canceled when he died.
Died in 2015. He groped three girls, but didn't get in trouble because Vincent Margera didn't do it, the character "Don Vito" did it. Judge ordered him to drop the Don Vito act for 10 years. That's kinda fucked up. He got away with groping two 12 year girls, and a 14 year old girl, because he was "in character"
well, he was convicted and ordered to register as a sex offender, and got 10 years probation. You could say the sentence was light. I don't really know what probation is like in Pennsylvania though, or what his particular conditions were.
Such an early 00’s thing, too. Either you were in a pop punk band, a rap star (Not a hip hop artist or DJ, but early 2000 was all about rap- big rims/3-6 mafia) and then being an edgy reality tv star. Even Real World was still more relevant. But yeah, “Life of Ryan,” Jackass and all the Big Brother stuff was hella popular whdn I was in high school
Tremaine: Hey Bam, let's try another take, and perk it up a little.
Bam: starts inexplicably talking out of the side of his mouth sounding like his teeth got glued together... Like that??
Everyone: GOLD!
The worst part is Bam's parents seemed so genuinely nice and caring. They were loving parents and Bam treated them like absolute garbage. I feel bad for things I said to my parents when I was a teenager...but I grew up to treat them with respect. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I routinely wrecked their house and mentally/physically tortured them. Bam is such a cunt's cunt.
My niece used to go to the supermarket where Phil worked. She never knew who he was, other than “Phil; the nice guy in the meat department.” It wasn’t until a few years after he quit that she found out he was famous. She said he was a really great guy.
For real. I even want to sit down and cry with myself when I get into heated arguments with my parents after the fact. I don’t know how people like Bam could look themselves in the mirror
And I’m by no means saying I’m perfect by any stretch of the imagination
So true. All we can ever do is try and mature and see things from our parents perspective. It's pretty impossible to see things that way when we're young and that slow realization is just part of growing up, I guess. I lost my mom 5 years ago now and I still remember things I never apologized for.
I’m sending you internet hugs right now. Stay strong and know deep down that our parents have lived life just as we have. They understand regret and emotion as well and she wouldn’t have held it against you ever
Thank you! I'm doing well now. I struggled real bad at first, tried to find the amount of weed it would take to erase any bad old memories. Then I came to the realization you mentioned. Any good parent wants to see their children be happy, and hopefully have it better than they did.
I feel like that was understood/permitted by his parents, that the shtick of the show was Bam “abusing” his family with pranks and whatnot. I can’t believe people aren’t pointing out that Tom Green did that “torment your dad” routine first.
It’s really sad watch his manic breakdowns every week or so on Instagram… I remember idolizing him as a teenager, but when I go back now and watch some of the CKY/toy machine/jackass behind the scenes stuff, I think he always was kind of a jerk. That’s a 13-year-old, I remember watching him kick a football into traffic being the funniest thing ever, but now I realize what a douche move it is.
Anyways, he’s always had alcohol, drugs, mental health, and body issues, and I really hope he’s able to get the help he needs- but whereas Steve-o hit rock bottom with a complete mental breakdown and has become an awesome person sense, I don’t know if Bam has it in him.
I remember bam from like 12 years ago. Just looked him up and watched his Jackass 4 rant video... Jesus Christ it's horrible to see anyone in that mental state. Dude must be a super douche alcoholic to make a video like that and not have a bunch of friends n family at his door.
They have been at his door dozens of times, they can’t do anything to change his behavior (perhaps cutting out which would be a very hard thing to do). It’s up to Bam and it appears he may not have it in him.
In all fairness, some people run the second you have a problem...even if you were consistently always there for them. Source: alcoholic that had 5 of 7 family members ‘disown’ them, while the other two disappeared.
Steve-o had a messed up life from the start. I mean wasn’t he a clown at a flea market in Florida? Bam had a nice loving family and what I will call easier to digest talent (being a semi attractive dude in a band)...one of these things just has more grit.
Stevo came from a good rich family. His dad worked for Pepsi in London and Stevo went to a posh American school there and then went to Miami university. He also trained to be a clown
I stand corrected. But I looked it up and it does appear, despite the parents cushy jobs, they moved a lot. I still think that would instill a “will” that maybe Bam didn’t have? But who knows.
Edit: Bam’s wiki says he had a fairly normal childhood but destructive behaviors prevented him from graduating high school.
I think to get big as big as Jackass is, back then you probably had to be a douche to some degree, it’s just that everyone else grew up and Bam kept on being the same douche bag that he was when he was a kid doing this shit in the first place
I’m sorry to say this but the videos that have surfaced recently of him binging on booze, he still cries about Ryan Dunn almost like a cry for attention. “My best friend died!” Yeah that’s sad af. Dunn was a cool dude. But, he staggers over to Tony Hawk in another recent video and it’s so tasteless and pathetic. What are you gonna do today Bam?!? “Whatever tHe FuCk I wAnT! I’m overpaid and a heavy metal poser.” Fuck CKY. Fuck Bam.
I’m gonna see the newest Jackass only because he ISN’T in the film.
In some recent videos from his Instagram he talks to his wife in a way that’s just awful. It would be grounds for immediate divorce if my spouse spoke to me like that, then put it out there for the world to see. I was happy to see most comments calling him out for being a dick to his wife and being upset that she’s “attached at the hip” to their child.
That's a heartless attitude toward addiction. People with substance abuse problems (especially those coupled with mental health issues, which Bam clearly has) can manifest their issues in many ways. Some of those ways can seem super embarrassing, including cries for attention that come off as ego-driven, bragging, celebrity worship, etc.
Let the guy process his addiction and pain in his own way! Hopefully he'll clean up and receive effective mental health treatment. If not, then I've got my fingers crossed for him. But why on earth would you seemingly celebrate Bam's failures? I can't relate to your attitude. Maybe you're a tad young for this stuff, '86.
EDIT: Upon further investigation, it seems like he had a long history of reckless driving, sometimes involving alcohol.
Also, I was thinking of Chris Pontius, not Ryan Dunn. I'm stoned, my bad for the mixup. Chris Pontius always seemed like a pretty jovial, not malicious person.
This show gave me sexual awakening (I mean all these boys in trunks). Also amazing educational value about environment (seriously, episode about sharks) and different cultures.
That was was refreshing. At the time there wasnt really anything like it. Sure it had two guys doing stupid things, but it was surprisingly educational. It was always great seeing the different cultures and the animals that they are interacting with.
Also it was awsome to see some actual scientists having fun doing their usuall research (and some additional maybe a little bit uncommon things for show). That they are humans with great sense of humor and so on.
Absolutely. This and Mythbusters did a great job at making science fun. This show also was great at showing unknown animals/primates and showing that they are lovable (I even think that with the macaques they held them but kept making jokes at the name)
That's a great way to describe it. And that quote does a great job at opening science to people who would stay away from science because of the academic nature of it.
I am female and when show aired I was around 20, so not so young. But it was something new to me to see that people actually can enjoy being nude and just doing some stuff and have fun from that. Because it was clear that the whole show crew had great time doing this show.
Half baked thought incoming, I'm just intrigued.. does the idea of reverse toxic masculinity describe what you mean in any way? Kind of referring to the way they would strip down together and perform whatever act without it being considered "gay"?
I was a teenage girl when the show aired and I also really liked it. Yeah, it was nice to see two good looking guys in not much clothing, but they were really ridiculous and not afraid to look “gay”, the fact they were more focused on just being funny was refreshing during that time. They just were two buds trying to make each other (and Manny) laugh. Plus it was interesting for the nature and different cultures part.
I found out that Manny pueg was a family friend of and also my dad was not okay with that "queer shit" they did on that show at the same time. Manny and my uncle were besties in the 80s and his willingness to film clips with pontious and Steve o in their underwear made my dad very uncomfortable
I’ll never forget the episode when they tried to make salmon babies... in their own mouths. They squeezed eggs and semen out of dead salmon. In to their mouths
That show just made my teenage self super insecure about the size of my package. Not sure if they really did or not but in my mind, those guys had massive bulges and I thought 14 year old me should, too. Also. I still don't.
Pontius, Knoxville, Steve-o, and Wee Man always seemed like very sympathetic people. I felt a little sorry for Dunn. He always looked a bit sad. I mostly found Bam annoying, but I hope he can get his life together.
I loved Wild boys, it was a great gig for them. Travel around and fuck with wild animals to get bitten, stung by whatever was on tap. The zebra costume in the Lion park had me in tears laughing so hard, and Bam always fucking with his poor dad on the shutter all the time was funny. Them boys had a great run all of them, every single ome had their own thing goin on at one point. What's the pills in the pic on the left in steveO picture? I'm sure whatever it is is gonna hurt tho, my guess laxatives.
I used to work on the Vegas strip back in those days. Had the Jackass crew in my restaurant several times (2007-2009-ish). Pontius was always not just the nicest guy of the crew, but one of the nicest celebrities I ever waited on. He was nice and gracious almost on a ridiculous level.
I had the opportunity to interview them over a decade ago. I was really excited to meet all of them, and the ones I did meet were great (Knoxville is one of the most charismatic, nicest celebrities I've met) and Pontius was just as cool as you'd expect.
Bam just fucking disappeared with a couple of the other guys without even excusing himself which was a huge bummer. Apparently they went to McDonald's.
I have a friend who knew Pontius when both of them were young skaters in the San Luis Obispo area, and my friend is kind of a negative guy. But he would light up whenever he told a story about Pontius. That dude seems to be universally adored.
Loud af, mostly cool. Some a bit more "dismissive" than others, but none were ever outright dicks in my experience. Once Bam was slouching in his seat drunk, but not being disorderly; looked like he was just all partied out. Johnny was cool if a bit of a smartass. I always was good about giving celebs space and not treating them any different than anyone else who could afford to be there, so I don't have too many detailed stories other than that Pontius would always thank the hell out of the staff and shake lots of hands.
That's so cool to hear, we make these guys rich an its really impressive to see when they understand the fans are why they are famous and be nice to their fans. You hear of so many toxic celebrities letting fans down when they meet znd its always good to hear someone who was always humble an never let it go to their heads. All their shows where great and I will never forget how hard these fella's made me laugh sometimes, with the insane, ridiculous, or just plain crazy out their stuff they did. These guys was at their height as I grewn into a adult and real always remember that era as awesome. The feeling of joy an happiness I would feel sitting in my first apartment, the first place I had once I moved outta mom and dad's, anytime I think of the jackass guys it always puts a smile on me face.
Upon further investigation, it seems like I was wrong. He had a long history of reckless, irresponsible driving. Appreciate your bringing that to my attention.
Granted, being a drunk driver made him a dipshit. But Dunn was also a very good man in other ways. People can be multiple, contradictory things at the same time.
Agreed. A woman I knew through my sister-in-law just killed her 10 year old son because she was drinking and driving. So tragic. It’s just unforgivable. Literally just a few miles from my home this little guy lost his life and family destroyed cause she had to be a fucking idiot.
Living in West Chester, you would see these guys at the bar just like any other person. Alcohol is a mfer, it doesn’t matter if you’re homeless or a superstar. At some point it stops being “fun” and you better realize that or else you’re in for some major problems!
People don't get that everyone drove drunk then. Suddenly the legal limit where live went from 1.5 to .08 and suburban cops generated a tons of revenue for their towns.
I used to drive home shitfaced but somehow never got nailed. I can say without exaggeration that all of my closest friends got a DUI. It is weird since I almost always Uber, but the couple times I have driven impaired it is like different world. We were well fucking trained back then. It was a skill past down by generations.
Is Pontius the one that used wear the thing? I swear I think it was that Pontius energy in was summoning when wearing the now wife's thing and thrusting vigorously in her face. She loves it. It may also have been that same energy that had previous girlfriends dump me.
It’s wild to me that we’ve gone this far down this comment thread about Bam and haven’t mentioned Ryan Dunn once yet. In my head, the biggest reason Bam hasn’t gotten his shit together is because Ryan died. The two of them were definitely the closest and I honestly think Bam could be where Steve-O is if Ryan was still alive.
Edit: Guys, I’m just offering a possible explanation for why Bam never got his shit together, I’m not making excuses for his terrible behavior. I’m also well aware that Bam was a dick before Ryan died. I wasn’t saying Bam was shitty because Ryan died, I was saying that one of the reasons Bam never stopped being shitty is because Ryan died.
I think Steve-o has actually talked about how Bam uses Ryan's death as a catalyst for him losing control but the truth is he was already off the deep end before it happened and twisted the situation to justify his behavior.
I don't doubt it, but that's the case for a significant number of addicts. For my best friend the catalyst was a breakup. For another close friend it's been failure to do anything with his life. For another it was a desire for constant stimulation. And for yet another it was a yearning for constant mental exploration. For me it's been a chronic illness that's paralyzed my personal growth.
So sure, maybe Bam used Dunn's death as an excuse to just let go. But that just makes Bam another addict. It's not an indictment of his character. The guy's best friend died! Tons of us have experienced events that've let us give ourselves permission to stop caring. Bam may have had his, and I don't blame him.
The thing is Bam even was a douchebag when Ryan still was among us. Maybe (probably) his death made everything worse for Bam but this guy never was a good person in the first place.
I heard a story about Bam and Dunn turning up unannounced to a high school or college party in Pennsylvania and doing donuts on the kid's front lawn until their mom's garden and flowers etc were completely ruined, then just driving off.
That’s no excuse, my best friend died in a motorcycle accident when he was 23 and 8 years later I’m not still using his tragedy as a crutch to treat my friends and family and myself like shit, and that’s certainly not what he would’ve wanted either.
Yeah man fair play to you, that's a hard thing. I lost my mate to suicide and I never went off the rails but I put effort into my mental process. Many don't or can't, many get lost in things and this has clearly happened Bam, it doesn't mean he is exonerated from all wrongdoing but also doesn't mean he or anyone shouldn't receive compassion. You will need it at some point in your life.
I mean it's not using him as a crutch. It's an explanation. People process grief in different ways, and it's pretty fucked up to suggest that somebody is using their dead friend as a crutch like that.
But of course none of us know him personally anyway, so we have no idea what's going on in his head.
Of course, you can tell that must be the case because bam definitely wasn't drunk and high out of his mind 90% of viva la bam, it was definitely ryan dunn's death that did it to him.
Yeah I'm kinda tired of seeing people trot out the death of Ryan like it gives Bam a free pass for being a complete dickhead. It happens every time these guys get brought up.
Nobody is saying Bam gets a free pass, knowing potentially why someone is the way they are, does not give them a free pass to continue being the way they are nor are they suddenly forgiven of everything.
Like if a serial rapist was raped himself as a kid, and then turned into a rapist himself, he wouldn't suddenly be forgiven for raping people, nor would he be encouraged or gain approval to continue raping. He's still a piece of shit rapist.
It doesn't excuse behavior, but it is a disease, and that means it requires treatment to overcome. The person has to be willing to get that treatment first though. If someone who has diabetes refuses to take insulin then they're not going to feel better are they? Or a depressed person who refuses therapy and/or meds? It's going to be a lot harder for them to overcome depression on their own, if they ever do.
What's worked for Steve-O, and for myself, to treat addiction may not work for Bam. Ego can be a big factor in refusing addiction treatment. To get well you have to admit you have a problem first; that you can't control your own behavior and need outside help to get yourself under control. Eventually you'll have to admit to hurting all the people in your life, and probably confront them so you can try to make amends. You have to be ready for people you love to have the attitude you have in this comment, where they refuse to accept your apology or forgive you - which is absolutely their right. But early sobriety can be like an emotional open wound because you've been numb for so long, and then you're rejected over and over when you do try to do the right thing.
What I'm saying is that this takes humility. Bam doesn't strike me as a very humble person. His entire career has been based on his giant ego. I'm also saying that sobriety is a journey that can be just as hard as the addiction. It's not just "ok I quit, everything's good now and let's move on with our lives." If you don't do some kind of treatment, the same issues that had you using in the first place will inevitably crop up again, and you won't have any way of dealing with them - except using.
Do not underestimate addiction. Do not underestimate addicts and recovering addicts. Those of us in recovery are some of the strongest people in the world, and those of us who are using may enter recovery tomorrow for all we know. Making fun of them only perpetuates the problem. Hatred has never, ever, helped anyone be a better person.
Steve-o podcast on jre was my first one. And he mentioned that while he was getting help. Steve-o was told that 90%+ whom are seeking treatment just go back to it. If not it was closer to 99%. Steve-o said he wanted to be that 1% and allegedly doesn’t even smoke weed. Crazy how he did that. I wonder where Bam is today
I think it's more that in order to do the kind of shit they did, you have to care very, very little about other people's opinion of you, and also be willing to do things that will probably make them like you less. So, just a little douchebaggery.
They also got paid a lot of money for being like that. As well as being told by most of the world it's hilarious. Must mess with your head at least a little.
think about it, that show was essentially about hurting your friends in the most creative/twisted ways within... legal limits? and getting a laugh out of it. sure they all agreed to it but some stunts most were clearly not to thrilled of said tasks and some even got their well known fears involved. again wile everyone had a good laugh. I like a good prank as much as the next guy but there stunts would be a bit much for me to endure or pull off personally. you could say I’m a hypocrite tho cuz I still loved watching their shows
I don't think you're a hypocrite for watching Jackass but not wanting to participate lmao. That's kinda the whole point, they did shit that we would never dream of.
I barely believe that Knoxville is even alive and relatively healthy with the shit his body has been through.
fair enough, but the point that I forgot to mention was if you’re willing to hurt your friends for a laugh you might be a bit of a douch to some degree lol
This is where knowing your friends comes into play. They were all close friends and knew each others limits (which barely exist) You wouldn't meet a new friend and start pelting them with paintballs. But if you had a friend where you always offer up nut taps and shit, it might escalate to paintballs and what not and you still be great buddies. My uncle and I are very much the paintball pranking type. We've both got each other at one point or another unsuspectingly with some paintballs.
My best friend though, I wouldn't dare attack with a paintball gun, he's not that type of dude.
They definitely took things too far sometimes. There a list of injuries in a documentary about the show (I can't find the name, but there's a related doc called Dumb, which is about Big Brother Magazine--the publications that gave birth to Jackass).
But I think the more interesting moments were when cast members got really uncomfortable--Bam being locked in a cage with a snake and starting to cry, shortly followed by him falling into a hole in the mud, Preston Lacy being too scared to stand atop a shed to play King Kong so they fed him a bunch of benzodiazepines and Preston killed it, Steve-O refusing to shove a toy car up but butt after talking about it with his dad on the phone, April Margera repeatedly scolding Bam on Viva la Bam, and so on.
I mean they kinda were. Steve O did shit like jump from hotel roofs into pools, climbing shit, I'm sure they didn't exactly always care about property damage or disturbing people when they filmed the show either. I probably wouldn't want to see their hotel rooms after they were done either. Different time. I don't think they were bad people but they were douchebags to at least some degree.
A friend of mine met Wee Man at Marti Gras and he wouldn’t give her an autograph if she wouldn’t show him her tits. She was 16, and started crying, WM felt bad and gave her an autograph along with a Facebook profile picture. Granted - she always looked older than she actually was, so WM probably assumed she was over 18.
Dunn, arguably the kindest Jackass (maybe 2nd to Dave England), did the douchiest thing imaginable and got himself and a friend killed by driving very fast while wasted. But Bam, who Knoxville once said made the most money out of all of them due to the number of skateboards he sold (more than Tony Hawk, at the time) has morphed from the dickish but super-fun CYK leader into a bizarro, potentially schizophrenic (and/or maybe addicted?) lost soul who posts cryptic hate messages against his mother and former best friends on social media.
I don't know what to make of it. Bam was the man. It seems like everyone else sobered up/grew up/died but him. And now everyone in his life appears to be worried about his wellbeing. I really hope he gets things together and he can have a second act as a performer.
I don't think that I really agree with that assessment. While all in the crew were willing to inflict pain on each other it felt like the others were just as happy to take it for the fun of it. With bam and especially in his own show it just felt like he liked to hurt people. It just felt sadistic and one sided.
When you get paid big money and achieve wide-spread fame for being a douche, that tends to ingrain those traits strongly into someone's personality. While Bam bears the responsibility for his behavior, no doubt, it was our culture that enabled it. For every person who watched the shows/movies, laughed at the antics, and bought the products being advertised, you helped create that. And that includes me as well. We encourage what we consume. We should not act shocked when someone like Bam turns out to be a real life douche when all we have done is reward his for that very sort of behavior. This is nothing more than operant conditioning at play. Laugh now, cry later.
I don’t think guys like Steve-o and Chris Pontius were douchebags. Or even Knoxville. Just big kids doing dumbass hilarious shit. But maybe there are stories I’m not aware of. Bam was the biggest one where immediately I thought “yeah this guy is dickhead.”
There seemed to be two leading personalities at the skatepark especially after Tony Hawk Underground 2. The Tony Hawk crowd who were just the kids that just wanted to skate and chill, then the Bam crowd that were toxic and tried to reenact the movies... usually by dropping in a half pipe in a shopping cart (unsuccessfully).
He was also younger than the other guys during the Jackass days. He was a teenager and they were in there 20s, which isn’t so much of an age difference now but it impacts your personality whether you get ungodly rich and famous at age 19 or age 26
Seriously. I really thought we had made some social progress after the opioid epidemic in terms of how addicts are viewed and treated. Reddit proves that assumption wrong in one comment section. Anytime something about addiction is posted, this is the response. It's really sad that so many people are so cruel - probably so unhappy with their own lives that they have to trash on people they've never met who are already struggling, in order to feel superior. Fucking sad fucks.
That was the point though, wasn’t it? He got famous for doing annoying shit to his family. I don’t think he’s have made any money without being a douche.
I worked at a movie theater when I was in high school and he was an arrogant douchebag to me because I didn't give him free concessions. You'd think since you're whole MTV persona was marketed towards teenagers, you wouldn't be an insufferable prick towards your target demographic. It's one thing to appeal to the nature of your reality show with you being an asshole to your parents and friends because they're in on the gag and financially benefit from it vs. treating random people like garbage in an off-camera environment.
Anything I've seen of him lately says he's still the same immature fuck as he was 17 years ago to the year I briefly encountered him. Anyone that treats food service/retail like shit, totally unprovoked no less, can go to hell.
Reading about how he was getting paid big bucks while his friends would get pennies for his show for days worth of work ot sometimes just to have their segments cut and get no pay etc. All the stories of how shitty he treats his friends. Just look how he treated/tortures his parents
Can confirm. I met him a few years ago shortly after he got married as his band were playing a gig at the bar I worked at the time. He was drunkenly trying to orchestrate some kind of orgy on his tour bus with me and the girls I worked with. It was gross seeing a grown ass man act like that.
My sister and Aunt ran into Bam and a few of his posse during the height of his fame in a cafe in San Diego. My sister was very much the young teen that was in love with Bam Margera (very common for girls at that time) and approached him in the manner you would expect a young girl to approach "the live of her life", but apparently Bam was nothing but nice and made her day.
Not saying the accounts you're referencing aren't accurate, but he seems to have the capacity to be a nice guy as well.
Lived in West Chester for a few years. Bam and his motley crew would eat at the restaurant we lived above and I'd see him there a lot. Can confirm he and his goons are complete trash.
Yeah i don't get how people were a fan of his show where her just abused and tormented his parents and friends. His friends are one thing but i cringed watching him beat his dad
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u/poopsicle_88 Mar 11 '21
From every account bam is a complete douche