Why is Bam Margera suing Johnny Knoxville? 'Jackass' creator alleges 'psychological torture'
There's drama surrounding the 'Jackass' franchise as creator Bam Margera just sued pretty much everybody including Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze after he was nixed from the upcoming installment of the franchise. Claiming he was illegally fired from the movie, Margera is suing to stall the October release of 'Jackass Forever' as he alleged the co-creators forced him into signing papers that ultimately amounted to deep psychological torture.
Likening his ordeal to that of Britney Spears's conservatorship battle, Margera seeks justice for the alleged losses incurred after being made to sign an agreement when he was in rehab. News of this comes quite a while after Paramount had announced in 2019 that a fourth 'Jackass' film was scheduled to drop by 2021. Tragedy struck the franchise last year where 'Jackass' star Stevie Lee aka Puppet The Psycho Dwarf died aged 54. But Margera's lawsuit arrives out of the blue both for fans and close circles around the franchise which he himself had helped create when it was still in its video series phase.
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Why is Bam Margera suing Johnny Knoxville?
Margera, who had also starred in the videos and subsequent TV shows and movies, filed a lawsuit on Monday, August 9, in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paramount, his co-stars, producer and director, seeking millions in compensation for being illegally fired. According to legal documents obtained by the media, Margera is suing his co-star Johnny Knoxville, producer Spike Jonze, director Jeffrey Tremaine along with Paramount Pictures, MTV, Dickhouse Entertainment, and Gorilla Flicks for unfairly firing him from the upcoming 'Jackass' movie.
Margera claims the trio "accosted him and coerced him" into signing a "wellness agreement" while he was in rehab in 2019, just so he could participate in the latest film 'Jackass Forever'. Claiming he didn't have a chance to run it by an attorney before signing the agreement, Margera alleged he was forced to undergo regular drug and alcohol tests, as well as consume an array of prescription drugs. The treatment left him depressed and drained, and also restricted his ability to live his own life, including traveling and other pursuits.
Did Bam Margera break rules of the agreement?
Margera alleges he was ultimately kicked out of the movie for failing to abide by the terms of the agreement, even though doctors claim he was nixed after testing positive for Adderall. Margera claims he has been prescribed to take the drug for the last 10 years, the lawsuit stating: "Defendants knew full well that Margera had to take Adderall to treat his attention deficit disorder. He had been on this medication for several years." It continues to allege how "Margera was the only 'Jackass' co-star terminated from the franchise for taking medication that he was prescribed, in order to treat his well-documented medical conditions.
Dubbing the treatment dished out by Paramount and the 'Jackass' team as "inhumane" and "discriminatory", not only is Margera seeking compensation, but he is also asking for an injunction to block the release of 'Jackass Forever'. Margera has also infamously publicly attacked the 'Jackass' crew in the recent past, for which a restraining order was filed against him by Tremaine. He had also previously shared with TMZ that he was "tortured" by his former co-stars before being fired from the franchise.