"In the beginning we were genuinely worth vilifying"
'Jackass' was one of the biggest televison shows of the early 2000s, but the show came under heavy fire from media watchdogs, moral guardians and parents alike for supposedly endorsing dangerous behaviour.
Steve-O shot to fame as a member of the 'Jackass' crew, and said on the 'Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson' podcast that show was "legitimately a bad influence on kids"
“I think in the beginning of Jackass we were genuinely worth vilifying because back then they didn't have YouTube or video on the internet and we were legitimately a bad influence,” he said.
“When 'Jackass' came out, little kids were showing up in hospitals all over the country and maybe the world because they saw us doing this crazy s**t and they wanted to do it themselves".
“So, little kids everywhere got video cameras and started f**king themselves up and showing up in hospitals and getting really hurt," he added.
However, the advent of social media and video-sharing websites like YouTube made it more acceptable to act like a Jackass, at least per Steve-O.
“At that time you could really point to us as being a bad influence, but I think over the years, because now that there's so much YouTube, ridiculousness, so much, it's not our f**king fault anymore.”
The show started life as an MTV show in 2000, where Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of brothers would hurt themselves for our entertainment, and the show quickly became a global hit.
Modern-day analysis of the show points to the show as an example of the skating counter-culture of the 90s becoming mainstream, and points to the involvement of Oscar-winning director Spike Jonze on the project.
Jonze is an co-creator on the show and regularly appears in the show, and the 'Being John Malkvoich' director got his break filming skateboarding videos in the 1990s.
Series co-creator Jeff Tremaine was an editor at skateboarding magazine Big Brother and commissioned a young Johnny Knoxville, then an aspiring actor, to make a series of videos where he would perform stunts such as testing out pepper spray, a taser, and a bulletproof vest.
From there, Jonze's paths crossed with the likes of Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man, the late Ryan Dunn, Bam Magera and Dave England.
The original 'Jackass' series ran from 2000 to 2001 on MTV, and spawned 4 films, including this year's 'Jackass Forever', which proved to be a surprise box office hit.
The film showed that while the crew are still game to injure ourselves for our entertainment ala ancient Roman warriors, the torch was passed to younger cast members such as Machine Gun Kelly, Eric Andre and Tyler, The Creator.
'Jackass' will be back on our screens on a more regular basis in a new series for the streaming service Paramount+, which launched in Ireland this week.