In a wholly dismaying turn of events, it appears as though Jackass star Bam Margera has fallen off the wagon yet again.
The news comes from Margera’s longtime friend and costar Steve-O, who had invited the 43-year-old on his Bucket List Tour in an effort to help him get back on track with his recovery. Last month, Margera appeared on Steve-O’s Wild Ride! podcast where he revealed that he was “basically pronounced dead” after being hospitalized for a combination of COVID and pneumonia.
At the time, it seemed like Bam was serious about his sobriety.
“So far, so good on the ‘Best Behavior Tour,'” Steve-O, whose real name is Stephen Gilchrist Glover, shared in a Jan. 22 update, following a tour stop in Salem, Oregon. “Way to go Bam Margera.”
Unfortunately, Margera’s sobriety didn’t seem to take. In a since-deleted Instagram comment earlier this week, Steve-O admitted that his friend had relapsed again — making one last ditch effort to try to get through to him, via Yahoo! Entertainment.
“Bam, last night you had your five-year-old son with you on stage at my show, and you were blessed with the chance to spend another day or two with him — then as soon as you left my show, you stayed up all night getting loaded.
You say you want to have a relationship with your son, but your actions guarantee the exact opposite will happen. I brought you on tour with me in hopes that I could get you to see what’s possible for you if you choose recovery. I’ve tried everything I can but I can’t force you to get honest and do the work of recovery.
I wish you could know how much I’ve hated feeling braced for news of your death, but you’re making it clear that I have no other choice. You’re dying, brother, and it sucks that I can’t do anything to save you.”
Steve-O himself has been sober since at least 2009, after his own highly publicized struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
Margera’s latest relapse comes following a tumultuous 2022, in which he initially began using alcohol again shortly after celebrating a year of sobriety. In June, the former professional skateboarder was reported missing from a court-ordered rehab facility. Though Margera eventually returned, he was reported missing again just a month later and was caught partying on video soon after.
At this point, as Steve-O likewise expressed, friends and family can only do so much until Margera himself decides that he wants to remain sober. And hopefully, he makes that choice before it’s too late.