Over two decades ago, back in the year 2000, the first series of Jackass aired on MTV. It introduced the world to a level of stunt-fuelled chaos that was never before seen, based on the fact that it was – and remains to this day – utterly bonkers and extremely dangerous.
During a recent appearance on the Hotboxing With Mike Tyson podcast, Steve-O – who has appeared in all but two of the Jackass-related projects – discussed the show's cultural effect when it first aired, and how it was a "bad influence" to children of the era who tried to emulate the wacky stunts that were featured.
"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," Steve-O explains.
"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 shit and they wanted to do it themselves. So little kids everywhere got video cameras and started fucking themselves up and showing up in hospitals and getting really hurt."
As for what has changed in regards to their effect on the youth today, Steve-O credits the internet and social media for directing kids to alternative forms of entertainment, which subsequently, has landed them with less of the blame for any resulting negative influence.
"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 fucking fault anymore," he adds.
Jackass first ran for three seasons on MTV, and eventually grew into a film franchise that most recently included Jackass Forever and, earlier this yea, Jackass 4.5.
