Months after claiming he was going to get a boob job, Steve-O backed out of the procedure… And for good reason!
Back in July, the Jackass alum touted on the X5 podcast that he was going to undergo a breast augmentation for the sole purpose of laughs. He said he wanted to be able to wear “various disguises” and put on “hidden camera pranks,” and that he’d have the implants removed after two months. He was super serious about it! You can hear him discuss all the details (below):
But two months have passed now, and Steve-O noticeably isn’t boasting breast plants… So what happened? During a conversation with Consequence on Thursday, the daredevil opened up about a series of events he believes was the universe intervening in his plan. Because things fell through the day of his scheduled surgery! He recalled:
“I got within 10 hours of being in surgery for that. The surgery was supposed to happen at eight in the morning. And 10:00 PM the night before, I got a call that the anesthesiologist backed out of it, because he found out that it was me doing it as a stunt. And that kind of set off a chain reaction where the doctor didn’t want to be associated with it anymore, and they were having trouble finding another surgery center to to make it happen … They were talking about going to a different county and smuggling me in at six in the morning and urging me to say that it happened in Mexico.”
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Honestly, we’re not too surprised the medical professionals backed out of the procedure… Surgery is a very serious thing, and requires equally serious post-op care! Not to mention Steve-O wanted to do it for all the wrong reasons! And for him, that really clicked when he spoke with a trans person the day of the surgery:
“On the day that 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. 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.”
He continued:
“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.”
One of his theorized pranks would have involved losing 20-lbs, getting a full body wax, covering his tattoos with body makeup, wearing a pink bikini and a helmet, and riding around the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. He said:
“The plan I had was to film with hidden cameras as I rode up to big gangs of motorcycle riders, who would presumably be checking me out. And I would walk up to pull off my helmet and say, ‘Yeah, dude,’ and get this crazy reaction, which, predictably, would be contentious.”
However, he said he didn’t ever think to “have any dedicated meetings or conversations with trans people” to hear how that would feel about it all on a deeper level, so he believes the supermarket encounter was the perfect opportunity to get some insight. And thank goodness, because that’s exactly what he got. Some deep, raw insight. He recalled of their conversation:
“My feeling that it was the ultimate statement of body autonomy, me saying my body, my choice… That part was okay. But the part where I deliberately went out to trick people into thinking that I was a woman and then fooling them, and then kind of celebrating the idea of hate towards [trans people] — that was a thing.”
Yeah, that totally makes. For Steve-O, it would have been a joke. But for countless trans people around the world, that hate is what they suffer through every single day just trying to be their authentic selves. It would have just been very tone deaf on the Wildboyz alum’s part. He continued:
“[The trans woman] 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 … 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.”
Seriously!! What a heaven send this encounter was for Steve-O. We’re so glad that he was educated and actually internalized everything he heard.
In retrospect, the stuntman is grateful he didn’t go through with the operation:
“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.”
But he admitted that not doing that stunt was “a good thing,” and that “it’s a very valuable trait to be able to admit when you’ve got things wrong.”
Agreed!
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers? Are you glad Steve-O didn’t go through with this stunt? Let us know in the comments down below.
[Image via WIRED/YouTube]
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