A glimpse into the sad life of Bam Margera

Long, long ago, when I was about fourteen or fifteen, Jackass was incredibly popular. It had been for a few years before that too, but now I was at the age where I wanted to zoom through the streets in shopping carts. Because what those guys from Jackass did was just really cool and this was the ‘stunt’ I dared to try (cooking omelets from your own vomit didn't appeal to me). And of course, sitting in front of the TV when new episodes or those endless reruns on MTV were on. Even then, I had excellent taste in men, because I thought Bam Margera was the hottest and so I wanted to be able to skateboard too (spoiler: I couldn't).

I have the impression that almost all the cast members of Jackass have gone through somewhat dark periods. To everyone's surprise, Steve-O is still very much alive, in fact: he has been sober for over thirteen years after an addiction to drugs and alcohol (with the absolute low point being that he snorted coke mixed with his dealer's blood, who was HIV positive; fortunately, he did not contract the virus). Chris Raab was also quite addicted to cocaine during filming, but fortunately, he is sober now.

Then we have of course Ryan Dunn, who died on June 20, 2011, in a single-car accident. He was drunk behind the wheel and his passenger Zachary Hartwell (producer of Jackass) and he were killed instantly. His death understandably hit his castmates hard, especially Bam Margera — who was really one of his best friends.

And unfortunately, from that moment on, things only got worse for Bam Margera, who already had problems with alcohol before Dunn's death. In 2009, he was hospitalized for dehydration after drinking non-stop for four days. Then came Dunn's death on top of that and the fact that he could no longer skateboard due to fused bones, and it all went downhill from there.

In 2015, he went to rehab, but he didn't complete the program there. That same year, he appeared with his mother April on the show Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn, where she mentioned that her son had been sober for three months. It finally seemed to be going in a somewhat positive direction. I was afraid to check his Instagram for a long time because I was worried he would look worse again. That cheerful skateboarder was hardly recognizable by then.

After living in Barcelona for a while, he returned to Pennsylvania in 2017 because his son Phoenix Wolf was born, whom he has with his wife Nicole Boyd. Unfortunately, he was arrested just a month later in Los Angeles for driving under the influence. A new attempt at rehab followed, but unfortunately, it was again not very meaningful: in 2018, he was held at gunpoint in Colombia (what the heck?), and that incident led to a relapse regarding alcohol.

In 2019, he made his third visit to rehab. Staying sober unfortunately didn't hold up again and the problems just piled up: he was fired from the Jackass reboot, after which he sued his former castmates and friends (and received a restraining order from director Jeff Tremaine), was removed from a flight because he was too drunk to fly, appeared as a guest on Dr. Phil (usually not a sign that someone is doing well), became addicted to Adderall, went to rehab for the fourth time, and left after four days.

And now we are back to today. This morning he was arrested again by the police and taken to rehab. This time under duress. His wife does not (for now) want to divorce him, but she has asked the court for full custody of their son. So sad, and so different from that cheerful, handsome skateboarder he was all those years ago.

Yet I have always had a soft spot for him. Who knows, fifth time’s a charm? I hope so.