What Jackass' Steve-O Told Poopies After His Shark Week Injury
Over the 22 years of the "Jackass" franchise, the ensemble of rowdy misfits-turned-stuntmen has racked up more than a lifetime's worth of injuries. Whether a concussion or a poorly placed paper cut, no member of the roving cast has been safe from bodily harm. Across a television series, four films, and a number of spin-offs and specials, Johnny Knoxville alone has sustained 16 concussions, an orbital blowout fracture, and a torn urethra, to name a few (via Entertainment Weekly). Perhaps no injury, however, matches the severity of the one endured on "Jackass Shark Week."
If ever one group of individuals heeded Tracy Jordan's advice to live every week like it's Shark Week, it was surely the "Jackass" gang. In 2021, they took that credo to heart and created their own Shark Week special for the Discovery Channel. Starring Steve-O, Chris Pontius, and newcomers Sean "Poopies" McInerney and Davon "Jasper Dolphin" Wilson, the special saw the "Jackass" guys trying out such ill-advised stunts as the bull shark matador stunt. But it was Poopies' horrific shark bite that rattled even the most hardened "Jackass" veterans.
Steve-O joked that the footage would change Poopies' life for the better
As is their wont, the "Jackass" crew will do anything for a laugh, and "Jackass Shark Week" was no exception. Indeed, Poopies' stunt was a recreation of the famous "Happy Days" episode in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark on a jet ski. After 19 years without a single shark bite on Shark Week, the "Jackass" crew summarily ended the streak when Poopies took a nasty bite to the hand. For a few minutes, Steve-O and Chris Pontius are visibly shaken as medics swarm around them. "It's a reminder that we are pushing it pretty hard," said Pontius, "and this could happen, of course."
Still, this is "Jackass" we're talking about, and tragedy soon gives way to levity. As Poopies motors away on a boat toward emergency surgery, he yells back at Steve-O, "I want a bonus!" In the aftermath of the injury, Steve-O would keep up the lighthearted vibes. "If you make a full recovery and this footage comes out, this will be the best thing that ever happened to you in your life! So, chin up, bucko! Be stoked," he told Poopies in a video message. Poopies may still be recovering from his injury, but he's no doubt joined the upper echelons of "Jackass" lore.