Steve-O recently revealed the shocking and “comical” salary he received for MTV’s Jackass Season 1. He recalled being “broke and homeless” despite the overnight fame he gained from the reality stunt show. Now, 26 years later, the comedian returned to make one last Jackass movie.
Steve-O opens up about his shocking salary in Jackass Season 1
During a recent interview with Playboy, Steve-O looked back on how little he earned during MTV’s Jackass Season 1 for performing dangerous and painful stunts.
“It’s comical how little I was paid for the first season of Jackass. I didn’t even get paid per episode. I got paid per bit,” the 52-year-old comedian said. After filming for several days, during which he sustained injuries, suffered a hangover, and even survived a shark bite, he listed stunt ideas and wrote down how much he thought he should charge for each one.
“At the top, I wrote ‘Goldfish.’ I thought, while I’m at it, I might as well put what I expect to be paid. Next to ‘Goldfish,’ I literally wrote $200,” Steve-O shared. He added that, in hindsight, the amount was especially funny because he believes the stunt could’ve gone horribly wrong, with him choking on the fish.
However, the comedian admitted to carrying a lot of “pride and ego” because he wanted to be considered “gnarly.” He recalled charging $500 for the stunt in which he was bitten by a shark. In the end, after taxes, the reality TV star earned less than $1,500 for the entire first season of Jackass.
Despite appearing on the MTV show and gaining fame, he was struggling financially. Before it aired, Steve-O said that his sister kicked him out of the house. “I was broke, unemployed, and homeless, and a star on this big MTV show. That’s one of the first things I learned about fame: It comes a lot easier than fortune,” the stunt performer shared.
Steve-O recently teamed up with his fellow original cast members for Jackass: Best and Last, which, according to him, is “one hundred percent” the franchise’s final installment. The movie opens in theaters on June 26.
