Release of “Jackass Forever” Still in Jeopardy
Los Angeles (December 20, 2021) – A Los Angeles Superior Court issued a tentative ruling that a lawsuit by Jackass creator Bam Margera may proceed, finding his claims have a “probability of success” against defendants Paramount, MTV, Johnny Knoxville, Jeffrey Tremaine and others.
Judge Robert S. Draper ruled Dec. 17 in favor of Margera on the majority of his claims and gutted an Anti-SLAPP attempt by the defendants to throw out the lawsuit. The release of the movie set for Feb. 4, 2022, remains in jeopardy as a result of the Court’s ruling, according to Margera’s counsel.
The Court chastised Defendants for claiming that Margera (due to his recovery) lacked the competency to bring the suit and offer evidence on his own behalf. “Defendants claim . . . the Court [should] strike Margera’s affidavit . . . is baseless to the point of being frivolous,” the Court wrote in its order.
Although the order did eliminate two wrongly pleaded causes of action for an injunction, the Court did not eliminate Margera’s ability to seek to bar a release of the movie. The Court specifically stated that Margera could seek a temporary restraining order, according to his attorneys.
“This is a complete victory for Bam that demonstrates our claims are sound,” said attorney Dennis S. Ellis of the law firm of Browne George Ross O’Brien Annaguey & Ellis LLP. “The Court eliminated what it believed were two wrongly pleaded causes of action, but it in no way eliminated Margera’s right to seek to block the use of his intellectual property through an injunction against the movie.”
Margera’s lawsuit will now proceed, including with claims that Margera’s intellectual property was stolen by the Defendants and they should be held liable for unfair competition. A date will be set early next year for the next stage of the lawsuit. Margera seeks millions of dollars in compensation and damages related to his contributions to the Jackass movie franchise he created when he was a teen skateboarding star.
Margera and his company are represented by attorneys Eric M. George, Dennis S. Ellis, Katherine F. Murray and Serli Polatoglu of the law firm of Browne George Ross O’Brien Annaguey & Ellis and longtime personal attorneys Alison Triessl and Todd D. Thibodo.
Margera’s lawsuit alleges he was illegally fired from the upcoming “Jackass Forever” movie by Hollywood studios and producers so they could steal the popular and lucrative movie franchise and not compensate him.
Link to lawsuit: https://singersf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-08-09-Redacted-Complaint-1.pdf
Margera Lawsuit Background
Margera and his loan-out company, Bam Margera, Inc., filed the lawsuit Aug. 9, 2021, in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paramount Pictures, MTV, Jeffrey Tremaine, Philip John “P.J.” Clapp (Johnny Knoxville), Adam H. Spiegel (Spike Jonze), Dickhouse Entertainment, Gorilla Flicks and others “to seek redress for Defendants’ inhumane, abusive and discriminatory treatment of Plaintiff Margera, and for their wrongful termination of him from the Jackass franchise he created,” the lawsuit states.
“While Margera has given Jackass—quite literally—more than two decades worth of his blood, sweat and tears, the defendants have not repaid him in kind,” said his attorney Eric M. George. “Rather, Margera, who has a documented history of mental health issues, including diagnosed bipolar disorder, has been the victim of unconscionable discrimination at the hands of defendants.”
When the lawsuit was filed, Margera said “I am pissed-off, angry, hurt, and shattered that Johnny (Knoxville), Jeff (Tremaine), Spike (Jonze) and the studios and producers ripped off my creativity, content, and stunts to make this movie, fired me without justification, and refuse to pay for my work; I created this franchise before any of these guys ever got involved.”
“My lawsuit isn’t just about compensation. It’s about treating people with mental health and addiction issues in an honest manner and not taking advantage of their disabilities to rip them off,” Margera added at the time.
Margera created Jackass long before the show hit MTV in 2000. Paramount and MTV have since made hundreds of millions of dollars to date on the popular TV and film franchise that was created, co-written, and produced by Margera, who came up with the vast majority of the franchise’s most memorable content along with his CKY Crew.
The suit says that in March 2020, Paramount executed a contract with Margera for a fourth Jackass film. They conditioned Margera’s participation and compensation on his adherence to a “Wellness Agreement.”
The lawsuit states that “while Margera was in a rehabilitation facility in 2019, Jonze (his producer) and Knoxville (his co-star), accosted him and coerced him into signing the draconian “Wellness Agreement.”
The pair told Margera if he did not sign then and there, he would be cut from all future installments of the Jackass films. This would cut off Margera’s primary income, and sole means of supporting his family. Having no choice, as Knoxville and Tremaine would not permit him the opportunity to consult an attorney, Margera signed the agreement, according to the suit.
By August 2020, after Margera had already put considerable work into the movie, including filming scenes, developing dozens of ideas for inclusion in the film, the vast majority of which are being used in Jackass Forever, Paramount terminated Margera’s contract, citing a purported violation of the “Wellness Agreement.”
The “Wellness Agreement” obligated Margera to complete daily drug tests, multiple times per day, scheduled and unscheduled, requests for which could come in at any hour of the day or night, the suit says.
“Defendants went so far as to employ a doctor who Facetimed with Margera every morning to ensure Margera took the cocktail of pills that Paramount’s medical team prescribed to him—pills that left him physically and mentally drained, depressed, and a shell of his former self,” the suit states. In his opposition to the Defendants’ recent Anti-SLAPP motion, Margera produced evidence that the same doctor employed by Paramount to head his claimed recovery was unqualified to do so, and lied about his qualifications, including making the false claim he graduated from college.
“Defendants’ wrongful termination of Margera stems from the fact that one of the numerous drug tests Margera was forced to submit to demonstrated that he was taking prescription Adderall. Defendants knew full well that Margera took Adderall to treat his attention deficit disorder. He had been on this medication for several years. But all of this notwithstanding, and without even giving Margera an opportunity to explain, Paramount fired him,” according to the lawsuit.
“Paramount’s inhumane treatment of Margera cannot be tolerated,” his attorney George said. “He was made to endure psychological torture in the form of a sham “Wellness Agreement,” and then ultimately terminated for his protected class status due to his medical condition, and his complaints about Defendants’ discriminatory conduct towards him.”
Court Rules in Favor of Bam Margera “Jackass” Lawsuit
Release of “Jackass Forever” Still in Jeopardy
Los Angeles (December 20, 2021)—A Los Angeles Superior Court issued a tentative ruling that a lawsuit by Jackass creator Bam Margera may proceed, finding his claims have a “probability of success” against defendants Paramount, MTV, Johnny Knoxville, Jeffrey Tremaine and others.
Judge Robert S. Draper ruled Dec. 17 in favor of Margera on the majority of his claims and gutted an Anti-SLAPP attempt by the defendants to throw out the lawsuit. The release of the movie set for Feb. 4, 2022, remains in jeopardy as a result of the Court’s ruling, according to Margera’s counsel.
The Court chastised Defendants for claiming that Margera (due to his recovery) lacked the competency to bring the suit and offer evidence on his own behalf. “Defendants claim . . . the Court [should] strike Margera’s affidavit . . . is baseless to the point of being frivolous,” the Court wrote in its order.
Although the order did eliminate two wrongly pleaded causes of action for an injunction, the Court did not eliminate Margera’s ability to seek to bar a release of the movie. The Court specifically stated that Margera could seek a temporary restraining order, according to his attorneys.
“This is a complete victory for Bam that demonstrates our claims are sound,” said attorney Dennis S. Ellis of the law firm of Browne George Ross O’Brien Annaguey & Ellis LLP. “The Court eliminated what it believed were two wrongly pleaded causes of action, but it in no way eliminated Margera’s right to seek to block the use of his intellectual property through an injunction against the movie.”
Margera’s lawsuit will now proceed, including with claims that Margera’s intellectual property was stolen by the Defendants and they should be held liable for unfair competition. A date will be set early next year for the next stage of the lawsuit. Margera seeks millions of dollars in compensation and damages related to his contributions to the Jackass movie franchise he created when he was a teen skateboarding star.
Margera and his company are represented by attorneys Eric M. George, Dennis S. Ellis, Katherine F. Murray and Serli Polatoglu of the law firm of Browne George Ross O’Brien Annaguey & Ellis and longtime personal attorneys Alison Triessl and Todd D. Thibodo.
Margera’s lawsuit alleges he was illegally fired from the upcoming “Jackass Forever” movie by Hollywood studios and producers so they could steal the popular and lucrative movie franchise and not compensate him.
Link to lawsuit: https://singersf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-08-09-Redacted-Complaint-1.pdf
Margera Lawsuit Background
Margera and his loan-out company, Bam Margera, Inc., filed the lawsuit Aug. 9, 2021, in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paramount Pictures, MTV, Jeffrey Tremaine, Philip John “P.J.” Clapp (Johnny Knoxville), Adam H. Spiegel (Spike Jonze), Dickhouse Entertainment, Gorilla Flicks and others “to seek redress for Defendants’ inhumane, abusive and discriminatory treatment of Plaintiff Margera, and for their wrongful termination of him from the Jackass franchise he created,” the lawsuit states.
“While Margera has given Jackass—quite literally—more than two decades worth of his blood, sweat and tears, the defendants have not repaid him in kind,” said his attorney Eric M. George. “Rather, Margera, who has a documented history of mental health issues, including diagnosed bipolar disorder, has been the victim of unconscionable discrimination at the hands of defendants.”
When the lawsuit was filed, Margera said “I am pissed-off, angry, hurt, and shattered that Johnny (Knoxville), Jeff (Tremaine), Spike (Jonze) and the studios and producers ripped off my creativity, content, and stunts to make this movie, fired me without justification, and refuse to pay for my work; I created this franchise before any of these guys ever got involved.”
“My lawsuit isn’t just about compensation. It’s about treating people with mental health and addiction issues in an honest manner and not taking advantage of their disabilities to rip them off,” Margera added at the time.
Margera created Jackass long before the show hit MTV in 2000. Paramount and MTV have since made hundreds of millions of dollars to date on the popular TV and film franchise that was created, co-written, and produced by Margera, who came up with the vast majority of the franchise’s most memorable content along with his CKY Crew.
The suit says that in March 2020, Paramount executed a contract with Margera for a fourth Jackass film. They conditioned Margera’s participation and compensation on his adherence to a “Wellness Agreement.”
The lawsuit states that “while Margera was in a rehabilitation facility in 2019, Jonze (his producer) and Knoxville (his co-star), accosted him and coerced him into signing the draconian “Wellness Agreement.”
The pair told Margera if he did not sign then and there, he would be cut from all future installments of the Jackass films. This would cut off Margera’s primary income, and sole means of supporting his family. Having no choice, as Knoxville and Tremaine would not permit him the opportunity to consult an attorney, Margera signed the agreement, according to the suit.
By August 2020, after Margera had already put considerable work into the movie, including filming scenes, developing dozens of ideas for inclusion in the film, the vast majority of which are being used in Jackass Forever, Paramount terminated Margera’s contract, citing a purported violation of the “Wellness Agreement.”
The “Wellness Agreement” obligated Margera to complete daily drug tests, multiple times per day, scheduled and unscheduled, requests for which could come in at any hour of the day or night, the suit says.
“Defendants went so far as to employ a doctor who Facetimed with Margera every morning to ensure Margera took the cocktail of pills that Paramount’s medical team prescribed to him—pills that left him physically and mentally drained, depressed, and a shell of his former self,” the suit states. In his opposition to the Defendants’ recent Anti-SLAPP motion, Margera produced evidence that the same doctor employed by Paramount to head his claimed recovery was unqualified to do so, and lied about his qualifications, including making the false claim he graduated from college.
“Defendants’ wrongful termination of Margera stems from the fact that one of the numerous drug tests Margera was forced to submit to demonstrated that he was taking prescription Adderall. Defendants knew full well that Margera took Adderall to treat his attention deficit disorder. He had been on this medication for several years. But all of this notwithstanding, and without even giving Margera an opportunity to explain, Paramount fired him,” according to the lawsuit.
“Paramount’s inhumane treatment of Margera cannot be tolerated,” his attorney George said. “He was made to endure psychological torture in the form of a sham “Wellness Agreement,” and then ultimately terminated for his protected class status due to his medical condition, and his complaints about Defendants’ discriminatory conduct towards him.”
Margera and his loan-out company seek compensation for violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Unruh Civil Rights Act and Unfair Competition Law, as well as for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud and common law copyright infringement. Plaintiffs also seek a preliminary and permanent injunction, and declaratory relief.
Stay tuned.