Reality star Bam Margera has been generating a lot of unsettling headlines lately. The 41-year-old was removed from the new Jackass film, allegedly for not staying sober. A lawsuit and even a restraining order followed. Now, his wife, Nicole Boyd, has reportedly filed for custody of their 3-year-old son, asking the court that Margera only be allowed supervised visitation.
The latest story comes courtesy of TMZ. The outlet claims she has not filed for divorce, which is unusual with custody arrangements, but has instead just asked the court that Bam’s time with his child be with another adult present. She’s reportedly fine with Margera picking who the adult is, provided she gives it a thumbs up. The petition was just filed earlier this week; so, it’s unclear how a judge might rule in the matter.
Bam Margera first made his mark as a skateboarder and star of the film series CKY, which featured tricks and various stunts. His work in CKY led to being hired for MTV’s Jackass, which turned many of its cast members into celebrities almost immediately. In addition to his work on the original series and its subsequent movies, Margera also starred in his own Jackass spinoff projects including Viva La Bam and Bam’s Unholy Union.
Those early years of Jackass are often talked of as if they were one big party, but as the years went on, the cast members started moving in different directions, especially after the tragic death of Ryan Dunn. A lot of the stars, most prominently Steve-O, moved away from drugs and alcohol and seemed to clean up their personal lives. Margera, unfortunately, did not and has had quite a few incidents over the past decade or so, many of which reportedly involved alcohol.
Exactly what happened with the most recent Jackass movie is still a bit unclear, at least when it comes to specifics, but the basic gist is that Margera was asked to stay sober during filming and he allegedly did not. He was removed from the project, which allegedly caused a lot of issues behind the scenes. Director Jeff Tremaine filed for a restraining order after Margera allegedly made threats against him and his family, and Bam later filed a lawsuit against Tremaine and star Johnny Knoxville to try and stop the film’s release. It has since been pushed back for Covid-related reasons.
As a huge fan, it’s tremendously sad to think of a Jackass movie without Bam. He brings a completely different energy to the franchise, and it’s a nice counterbalance with what some of the other guys prefer to do. He’s part of the family, and it doesn’t feel right for him to be excluded. That being said, he’s clearly been going through struggles for an extended period of time, and the guys seem to want nothing more than for him to get better. He’s also had issues with his family, issues with random strangers and issues with musicians from Iceland. Sometimes tough love is what people need to move in the right direction, and whatever is going on with Jackass Forever is ultimately way less important than Bam’s relationship with his child, which now seems in danger too.
My sincerest thoughts go out to Bam Margera, someone who has brought me many hours of joy. I don’t know what’s going on inside his head or what his struggles feel like on a daily basis, but I truly hope he gets healthy, finds happiness and makes his peace with both his Jackass family and his immediate family.
