Steve-O nearly had surgery for his latest prank before a last-minute “sign from the universe.”
The “Jackass” star, 50, Consequence of Sound said she planned to get breast implants as a gimmick and was so close to getting it that she scheduled the surgery. But eventually, he changed his mind after a conversation with a transgender stranger at the supermarket.
“The person calling me at the grocery store was apparently trans, and it felt like a sign from the universe,” she recalls. “So I asked the transgender person if I could manage something with them, and I had a conversation with that person that had a profound effect on me.”
Part of the prank would involve the comedian going to a motorcycle rally in disguise so he could get a “crazy reaction” from motorcycle riders “checking me out” before realizing who he was. “I’d consider it a better video if I got hit in the motorcycle rally,” he said.
But the person at the supermarket spoke to Steve-O about the “level of oppression” transgender people face in a “very heartbreaking” way, which made him realize: “Wow, maybe it’s not all fun and games.” After that, he feared that the stunt would seem like an “exercise in celebrating violence against trans people” and decided to cancel it.
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Steve-O is known for his outrageous stunts as part of the “Jackass” series, including the original MTV show and four feature films. He first announced plans for his breast implant prank on the X5 Podcast in July.
“I came up with the idea a few years ago to get a breast job and film a bunch of really funny hidden camera pranks with me in various disguises and then reveal who I really am,” she said.
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Steve-O explained at the time that he was “in love” with the idea because “the opportunity for comedy is absolutely there” and he also liked the “level of commitment” required for the prank. She said she had been planning to get the breast implants for about two months and was talking to a doctor about the procedure.
“I spoke to the doctor and told him honestly, the only thing I’ve been freaking out and worried about and would walk away from is if I’m going to be a mess afterwards,” she said. . “The doctors were completely unfazed. They say, ‘Two months out.’ No problem at all.”
He promised on the podcast not to let people “get into my head” about the prank because he believes in the “comedy” of it, and admitted he felt pressure to keep peaking after years of stunts. “The bar is so high, so to raise it, it requires me to push things too far,” he said. “With his spirit gone too far, finding a chest job (is a) nuclear move.”
In the Consequence of Sound interview, Steve-O said that before calling off the prank, he felt he knew what his “intention” was, “and it wasn’t to hurt anyone.” However, he “didn’t really have any dedicated meetings or conversations with trans people, because I didn’t feel like I had to.”
He went on to note that he had a hard time walking away from the gimmick because he had already publicly committed to it. But in the end, he says he’s glad he didn’t go through with it, telling the report: “I think it’s a valuable trait to be able to admit when you’ve got things wrong.”
