Johnny Knoxville Admits He Became “Addicted” To Doing Stunts On ‘Jackass’: “I’m Still Dealing With That”

It may be time for Johnny Knoxville to consider a new career path.

The Jackass star and stunt man opened up about the “traumatic” brain injuries he sustained in Jackass Forever that left him reconsidering his future with the death-defying franchise that built his career.

Knoxville estimated during a recent appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside Of You podcast that he’s gotten “between” 50 and 100 concussions throughout his career, prompting a neurologist to advise him against risking another one.

He admitted that “the last concussion on Jackass Forever” gave him “problems for six months.” Knoxville said, “I can imagine how it scared my kids.”

“It was a traumatic brain injury with a concussion, brain hemorrhage, and I broke my wrist and ribs. Then the neurologist was like, ‘You can’t have another concussion,'” he recalled. He promised his kids that he wasn’t “gonna do that anymore.”

But Knoxville admitted that he certainly became “addicted” to performing dangerous stunts at one point in his career.

“The big stunts I got addicted to, and I’m still dealing with that,” he confessed.

It’s been over 20 years since Jeff Tremaine‘s Jackass first premiered on MTV, spawning several films and television specials, during which Knoxville sustained dozens of concussions, broken several bones, and an orbital blowout fracture (meaning his eye popped out of its socket), amongst other things. But getting rammed by a bull in Jackass Forever was truly his last hurrah.

He explained that you “can’t walk into a stunt being frightened of death” — even if a bull is angrily charging towards you.

“If you go into a stunt and you don’t commit, it’s really gonna be bad,” he said.

Knoxville has previously said that he made a promise to his kids that he would avoid performing stunts that could put him at risk of getting another concussion.

“I’ve had too many concussions. I don’t care if I like, break my arm or wrist or anything, but I can’t have any more concussions,” he told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show.

While there is always a chance that Knoxville and the Jackass crew could regroup for yet another installment, it doesn’t look like Knoxville will be getting back in the bullpen any time soon.

Speaking to Rosenbaum, the daredevil became emotional when he reflected on how much he valued spending time with his kids and his partner.  

“It’s like shit, man,” he said. “If you take if you keep taking chances, you only have so many chances you can take.”