Steve-O paid – Steve-O says he was paid “comical” amounts for the first season of Jackass, claiming he didn’t even get paid per episode—only per “bit.” He says he ended up with less than $1,500 after taxes for the entire season.
Steve-O remembers what it was like to gamble his body for early fame—and the number he says he was paid for it is almost harder to believe than the stunts.
In an interview with Playboy published on Tuesday, the Jackass star looked back at season 1 and called his compensation “comical” in a way that lands somewhere between disbelief and embarrassment. He says he “didn’t even get paid per episode.” Instead, he was paid “per bit.”
After five days of filming. Steve-O says he was “all banged up. ” hungover. and “bitten by a shark.” In that moment. he says he wrote out what he felt should be on the show—and what he expected to be paid. At the top. he wrote “Goldfish. ” referencing the skit where he swallowed a live goldfish and then vomited it back out. He says he followed it with a handwritten price: “Next to ‘Goldfish,’ I literally wrote $200.”.
He added that the number still makes him laugh because the stunt could have gone wrong. If the goldfish “went down backwards somehow. ” he said he “would have completely torn up [his] throat.” Even so. Steve-O said it was “purely pride and ego” that led him to put that figure down. wanting to be seen as “so gnarly.”.
The sea-themed misery didn’t stop there. Steve-O also described being bitten by a shark during the season, even pointing to a scar on his finger. For that, he says he charged $500.
By the time the season wrapped, he claims the final tally was still shockingly low. “When it was all said and done, after taxes, I was paid less than $1,500 for the entire first season of Jackass.”
For Steve-O, the sting of that figure is tangled up with how hungry he was back then. He said that before the show came out, his sister kicked him out of the house. He described himself as “broke, unemployed, and homeless,” while also now being the kind of star MTV could put on a big show.
“That’s one of the first things I learned about fame: It comes a lot easier than fortune,” he said.
Jackass fans may be tempted to fixate on the money, but Steve-O’s bigger point lands in the gap between what the world now calls iconic and what he says he was actually paid when it was still getting started.
Steve-O Jackass Jackass season 1 Playboy interview MTV Goldfish skit shark bite comedy stunts Steve-O money paid
So he only got like $1,500 total?? That’s actually insane, I would’ve demanded more for being bitten by a shark like what
Wait “per bit”?? Like per Twitch bit? Lol. Also he says goldfish $200 and shark $500… who is even writing prices on paper like that
I don’t get why people are surprised. If it was MTV or whatever, they probably paid everyone crumbs back then. But also he was “homeless”?? maybe he’s exaggerating for attention, you know how celebrities are
Jackass was wild but $1,500 after taxes for a whole season… seems fake to me. Like even if it was low, wouldn’t there be residuals or something? And the goldfish thing like… $200?? I’m sorry but that’s too specific lol