Jackass fans have waited a long time for Johnny Knoxville and the gang to reunite for pranks and stunt-filled shenanigans, and that day is almost upon us. Jackass Forever finally hits theaters on Friday (and Jackass 4.5 will follow soon after), but with just days to go until the big arrival, some of the stars of the new movie have found themselves in legal hot water. Steve-O, Chris Pontius and others have been hit with a lawsuit over a stunt that allegedly went wrong.
As reported by TMZ, Michael Vicens-Segura, the man who filed the lawsuit through attorney John Phillips, says that Steve-O and Chris Pontius approached him in 2018 about if they could use his jet skis for a project they were shooting in Puerto Rico. The prank specifically involved the men going out on the water with jet skis facing in opposite directions, and then being attached together with a bungee cord to see who would be yanked off first, tug of war-style. A similar stunt was carried out in Jackass: The Movie with BMX vehicles.
In the lawsuit, Michael Vicens-Segura says he was asked to hold one of the jet skis steady in the water because there were issues with waves that day. He complied, and from there, Vicens-Segura claims that when Steve-O and Chris Pontius hit the gas, Steve-O’s bungee cord snapped off the harness attached to his back and struck Vicens-Segura in the side of the head, leaving a huge gash. According to Vicens-Segura, he needed to be taken to the hospital for emergency surgery and was even placed into a medically-induced coma because he had “a fractured skull and brain bleeding, among other things.”
In addition to now boasting scars from the incident, Michael Vicens-Segura claims that these injuries have resulted in him losing the ability to work and “think straight,” as well as still deals with “pain, suffering and agony.” So now he’s suing Steve-O, Chris Pontius and the others involved over the incident and is asking the court for more than $12 million in damages. As of this writing, no one from Steve-O or Pontius’ respective camps have issued an official response to this lawsuit.
Naturally, we’ll keep on the lookout about any major developments in this lawsuit, including whether it ends up going to trial, is settled out of court or is just straight up dropped. Needless to say though that this isn’t the kind of attention that Steve-O and Chris Pontius would probably be hoping for right when Jackass Forever is about to open. It’s unlikely that the lawsuit’s filing will diminish turnout for the movie, but it nonetheless throws a bit of a wrench into the works.
In addition to Steve-O (who wishes one of the movie’s pranks had ended up worse for him), Chris Pontius and Johnny Knoxville, Jackass Forever’s returning faces also include Wee Man, Dave England, Danger Ehren and Preston Lacy, among others. Bam Margera was removed early into the film’s shoot, but evidently, we’ll still see a little bit of him in the completed product. Forever will also include guest appearances from celebrities like Eric André (who was “so nervous” on the movie’s set), Tony Hawk, Machine Gun Kelly and Tyler, the Creator.
CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave Jackass Forever 4 out of 5 stars in his review, but you can judge the movie for yourself starting this weekend. If you’re wondering what other cinematic entertainment awaits this year, look through our lineup of 2022 movie releases.