Johnny Knoxville Is Retiring From ‘Jackass’ Franchise

Johnny Knoxville is ready to hang up his jockstrap from the world of “Jackass.”

With the fourth installment of “Jackass” currently in production, Knoxville realizes his body isn’t what it used to be, and that it is time to call it quits.

After years of subjecting his body to some pretty gnarly beatings, Knoxville is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel whether he likes it or not.

In a recent interview with GQ, the 50-year-old prank-stuntman extraordinaire explained that “Jackass 4” will be his last film in the long-running franchise.

“Jackass” started out as a TV show on MTV in 2000, and as it gained massive popularity and a cult following it transformed into a movie franchise.

The TV show spawned a slew of movie spinoff installments including, “Jackass The Movie,” “Jackass Number Two,” “Jackass 3D” and many more.

Clearly, the years of being a “Jackass” have paid off for Knoxville and his band of brothers, but it’s come with a pretty hefty price tag.

And by ‘price tag,’ we mean countless hospital bills.

During his interview with GQ Knoxville said, “You can only take so many chances before something irreversible happens. I feel like I've been extremely lucky to take the chances I've taken and still be walking around.”

Some of the chances Knoxville took ended up with broken bones, concussions, eyes popping out of their sockets, & many more gruesome bumps & bruises.

He added, “I can't afford to have any more concussions. I can't put my family through that.”

Despite the repercussions that came with the job, Knoxville made it a point to note, “I know what I signed up for. I wrote the stunts.”

Last December Knoxville and “Jackass” co-star Steve-O were filming stunts for the upcoming film when the two were immediately hospitalized.

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On day two of filming, both were involved in a horrible treadmill accident.

The stunt involved the guys attempting to jump onto a moving treadmill while carrying musical instruments.

Fellow friend and co-star, Bam Margera, explained what happened in a video posted to his website.

According to reports, Margera said in the video, “Second day of filming Jackass and already Steve-O and Knoxville are hospitalized by jumping on a full-speed treadmill with band equipment, like a f***ing tuba.”

Steve-O told Sam Schube, author of the GQ article, “Filming Jackass at this age is much the same as it ever was, with two big differences. Our bones break significantly easier. And it takes less to knock us completely unconscious. Plus longer to wake up.”

Knoxville knew his career was winding down as a “half-ass stuntman” after filming 2018’s “Action Point” & suffering four concussions.

He didn’t think a fourth “Jackass” was in the cards adding, “I knew that my stunt career was winding down after that film.”

The fourth and final movie installment of “Jackass” was originally slated for March 5, 2021; however, given the Covid-19 pandemic, “Jackass 4” will hit theaters this fall.