Bam Margera Really? Why is this man so upset?
It was a great feeling to be able to speak exclusively with one of MTV’s iconic OGs. JackassIt is the legend of professional skateboarder and Star of Viva La Bam It took me a moment to realise that he is still alive. How could he survive the numerous lawsuits, drug abuse, and exhaustion from being famous in the 2000s with his fellow jackasses? He was willing to speak about the experience, despite having survived a treacherous journey filled with landmines.
The resilient fearlessness would be a good place to start our discussion.
Bam’s new clean-and sober life is here, complete with his powerhouse business partner Dannii and a marijuana business that has shown signs of being a real success. Margera’s not ambiguous as to who deserves credit for his new life.
“When I first met Dannii, I was at a real low as I was dealing with all the stresses that my life was about then—suing Jackass, going through a custody battle, the up-all-night drinking—all of which culminated in me having five seizures 20 minutes apart and waking up in the hospital with a tube down my throat suffering from COVID and pneumonia,” Margera says. After a life of not having someone tell me what to, Dannii told me that I just needed structure and stability. She helped me establish a bedtime. She told me, ‘I don’t care if you’re hanging out with Iggy Pop and jacking off Bon Jovi, you’re going to bed at ten o’clock and that’s that.’ It’s what I always do. I get up refreshed and ready to go skate, take the dog for a walk, or paint.
As I continue to listen as Margera passionately and engagingly talks about the challenges and accomplishments that he has faced in his life and how he was able to overcome them, I am reminded of just how predetermined it seemed his success to be. He’s only 46. When he was in fifth grade and won an amateur skateboarding competition, Brandon Cole Margera received a lot of praise from his peers.
In his early skater’s accolade, he recalls that at eleven he signed autographs with local Westchester kids. “From there I was sponsored at 13, then 15, then all of a sudden Nike came calling—and I became the first skater ever sponsored by Nike. Then, Jackass It was like I suddenly became famous and all the girls wanted to be with me. Girls who would never have given me the time before now invite me to the prom. The whole thing felt fake to the point that I dropped out of school after the 10th grade in order to pursue my dream of becoming a professional skateboarder. My Plan A was to become a pro skateboarder and a movie star. I would either achieve that or die.” “My Plan A was to become a professional skateboarder, a movie actor and to either achieve this or die.”
Asking about his first experiences with marijuana. Margera has surely had a life story by the time I have known her.
“I never tried cannabis until I was 23 and we were in Copenhagen on the Steve O tour and they pulled out these buds with all these orange hairs on it and they said, ‘Dude, this is the strongest, best weed ever.’ He says that they bet him $100 for me to consume $100 of the weed. At first, he laughed hysterically and then felt as if he was about to die. “I go into my room, fall asleep in front of the sink. 48 hours after that I woke with an ugly bruise all over my chest. For a whole week, I could only eat vanilla ice-cream. Yes, I had a very bad first time weed experience. Snoop Dogg was my second cannabis experience. [Dogg] On his tour bus, I was also wiped out. Dannii, a cannabis connoisseur of sorts, regulates the amount I can have, whether that’s one puff or a gum or anything else. Dannii was the first person to teach me how I should consume marijuana.
Marie says that the lidocaine sticks from Bam THC are a game-changer. It’s amazing. I use it daily and stretch Bam every morning. All the pain and inflammation are gone within ten minutes. “This product helps me do my job better and produces results almost instantly.”
Margera sits energetically up again when we mention his presence on social media. Boasting some three-and-a-half-million followers on Instagram alone, Margera knows of what he speaks.
“The more fans and followers you get, the more haters you’re gonna get—you just get used to it,” he says. “I was called everything in the dictionary and have concluded that any press you get is positive unless it’s from a rapist or murderer. I am the ultimate story of redemption. It’s possible to return from the worst lows in your life and find positivity. It’s quite amazing to see how far I have come from being an overweight drug-addicted alcoholic. You can change at any time. The rubber band leg that I had a few years back was useless. Now, they feel so good. And I’m skating, man. “Miracles do happen.”
Speaking of miracles, I find myself totally relating to this good man in front of me—and loving Dannii Marie as we have many connections in common—even as the facts of his difficult life have very little to do with my own experiences. There’s a built-in—not sadness, exactly, but a gentle vulnerability that makes you root for this damaged, unquestionably talented man. Marie probably plays on that part a lot. Margera however sees Margera’s life as epic and true to blue cautionary tale. The end.
Margera is blunt in his description of the story. “I was a millionaire skateboarder who became drunk, addicted to drugs and an absolute mess. He learned from this,” Margera said. “Now I’ve changed completely, changed the way I do things to surprisingly be a legitimate success story. I think you need a great partner to help with everything. I don’t know how people fly solo—I thank Dannii for Everything is better with a little help.”
Bam Margera’s journey to happiness and centering has taken her a lifetime. At last, the professional skateboarder, sensitive artist and big television star can finally—finally!— look in the mirror and know precisely who’s looking back at him. Bam I am indeed.