Steve-O is not moving forward with his long-publicized plan to get breast implants as a joke.
The Jackass star recently revealed why he decided to cancel the procedure in an interview with Consequence of Sound.
“On the day the scheduled surgery was supposed to happen, I was checking out at the supermarket, and the person ringing up my groceries was evidently transgender, and it struck me as a sign from the universe,” Steve-O said.
“So I asked the transgender person if I could run something by them, and I had a conversation with this person that had a profound impact on me.”
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“I didn’t really have any dedicated meetings or conversations with trans people because I didn’t really feel that I had to,” he went on to explain.
“I knew what my motivation was, I knew what my intention was, and it wasn’t to be hurtful to anybody. I was just trying to get laughs. I had done a bunch of workshop shows to test out material, and I had a number of trans people come to me after the shows to voice support for [the stunt]. And I think some people would’ve been okay with it, and some people wouldn’t have. It would’ve been a mixed bag.”
However, after Steve-O spoke to the cashier, he said: “I just feel like the universe put this encounter before me, and ultimately I decided that the universe had intervened.”
“[They] described how they weren’t allowed to use the bathroom at their place of work, that there were like maybe 28 states in the country that would arrest them for having an ID that said female on it. That there were politicians making concerted efforts to lock them up in internment camps. It was really pretty heartbreaking, the level of oppression that was described,” he explained.
“Framed like that, I thought about it in a way that I hadn’t before, where you know, wow, maybe it’s not all fun and games. Especially the pranks. Like, I would’ve considered it to be better footage if I was to be beaten up at the motorcycle rally. And just having that mentality was very flawed, because ultimately it would be an exercise in celebrating violence against trans people. At least, it would be interpreted that way by some, and when it was put to me that way, I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I missed the mark on that one.’”
Steve-O said he regrets publicizing the bit: “It was difficult for me. Looking back on it, I’m extremely grateful that it didn’t happen. I’m really glad that I didn’t go through with it. But that didn’t make it any easier, because I was so vocal about my plans to do that, and I’ve never been the kind of artist to say I was going to do something and then not do it. That was what I had trouble with, was not honoring my word.”
He will open up about it during his upcoming Super Dummy Tour.
“I don’t really avoid the topic — I explain that I felt the universe intervened on my behalf…the show still has a bunch of really good comedy from that whole episode. And the extent to which I was prepared to go through with that is hilarious in its own right. I think it’s a very valuable trait to be able to admit when you’ve got things wrong.”
He’s one of several celebrities who have explained why they don’t want kids.
