Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American stunt performer, comedian, television personality, and podcaster. He rose to fame in the early 2000s as a cast member of the MTVreality comedy series Jackass, which showcased dangerous stunts and pranks and led to a successful film franchise.
Following the success of Jackass, Steve-O appeared in numerous spin-offs, including Wildboyz and Dr. Steve-O, and embarked on comedy tours that mixed stand-up with stunt performances. He released a memoir, Professional Idiot (2011), and later built a following through his YouTube channel and podcast Steve-O's Wild Ride!.
Steve-O has been open about his struggles with substance abuse, which led to several legal and health issues in the mid-2000s. After an intervention by his Jackass co-stars in March 2008, he entered treatment and is now an advocate for recovery and animal rights.
Born in Wimbledon, London to a Canadian mother and American father, Steve-O holds Canadian, British, and American citizenships.
Early life and education
Stephen Gilchrist Glover was born on June 13, 1974,[1][2] in London,[2] to Donna Gay Glover (née Wauthier; 1947–2003), a Canadian, and Richard Edward "Ted" Glover (born 1943), an American business executive.[3][4] He is of English ancestry on his father's side. He has one older sister, Cindy.[5]
When he was six months old, the family moved to Brazil, where his father worked as president of Pepsi-Cola's South American division.[6] Glover later recalled that his first words were spoken in Portuguese, and that the family's frequent relocations disrupted his early schooling.[7] They subsequently lived in Venezuela, where he learned Spanish.[8]
By age four, the family had returned to the United States, settling in Darien, Connecticut,[9] and later moving to Miami, Florida. At age nine, the family relocated to London, then to Toronto when he was twelve, and back to London again the following year. He attended the American School in London.[8]
At sixteen, Glover began using drugs such as LSD and cannabis, and later said that he "narrowly graduated" with his high school diploma in 1992.[10] He enrolled at the University of Miami's School of Communication, where he began using the stage name "Steve-O", but left during his sophomore year in November 1993.[11]
After leaving Miami, Glover lived without permanent housing and often stayed with friends. During this period, he filmed his own stunts, including a 1995 jump from a balcony that resulted in multiple injuries, among them broken teeth, a fractured cheekbone, and a concussion.[12]
After completing his training at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1997, Steve-O was not selected to join the circus.[14] He instead worked as a clown at a circus based at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop flea market and performed on cruise ships for Royal Caribbean International.[15] During this period, he filmed his own stunts and performances, often distributing VHS tapes of his work to promote himself.[16]
In the late 1990s, some of these recordings reached filmmaker Jeff Tremaine, who was developing a stunt-based television project for MTV.[17] Tremaine recruited Steve-O to join the ensemble cast of Jackass, which premiered in 2000. The series, which showcased dangerous stunts and pranks performed by Steve-O and other cast members, quickly became a cultural phenomenon.[14]
In 2001, Steve-O released Don't Try This at Home on DVD, which contained material MTV censored.[20] It went on to sell 140,000 copies.[21] He toured promoting the DVD doing stunts, which was filmed and released as Don't Try This at Home Volume 2: The Tour.[22]
On July 31, 2002, Steve-O was arrested on obscenity and assault charges for stapling his scrotum to his leg, and for being a principal to a second-degree battery, during a performance at a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana on July 11, 2002.[23][24][25] After several delays, in March 2003 Steve-O made a deal with Louisiana prosecutors placing him on supervised probation for one year, requiring him to make a charitable donation of $5,000 to a shelter for battered women and children and forbidding him from ever performing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana again.[26]
In 2003, Steve-O toured Europe with Bam Margera, a friend and co-star of Jackass. On May 22, 2003, Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden due to footage of him swallowing a condom containing cannabis to get it past authorities while flying on a plane. He then regurgitated it live on stage, which he showed in his DVD Steve-O: Out on Bail (aka Don't Try This at Home – The Steve-O Video Vol. 3: Out on Bail). Steve-O reached a deal with the Swedish prosecutors and was released on May 27, 2003, after paying a fine of 45,000 kronor (equal to about US$5,800 at the time).
As part of the plea bargain, Steve-O admitted to possessing one ecstasy tablet and five grams of marijuana, although he claimed he had no knowledge of where the ecstasy came from.[27] The Swedish arrest was included in the third installment of the DVD series titled Steve-O: Out on Bail. Two months later on July 19, 2003, Steve-O was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for urinating on potato chips in public during a Lollapalooza tour concert in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Steve-O claimed he was kicked off the tour by Lollapalooza producers because of the incident.[28]
After Jackass (2004–2007)
After Jackass ended, Steve-O co-starred with Chris Pontius on MTV's Wildboyz, which lasted four seasons from 2003 until 2006. The two performed stunts and acts with animals, often putting themselves in situations for which they were not trained.
In 2005, he became the spokesperson for the Sneaux brand of footwear.[29] Television commercials promoting the shoe company included such acts as Steve-O jumping into garbage, getting his foot bitten by an alligator (simulated) and drinking rotten milk.[30]
On March 27, 2006, he and Jackass co-star Chris Pontius visited The Dean Blundell Show, a morning show on Toronto radio station CFNY (102.1 The Edge), to promote their Don't Try This at Home tour. He urinated on the floor and performed a stunt called "Unwrapping the Mummy" all in front of a live studio audience. Hosts Dean Blundell, Jason Barr, and Todd Shapiro were suspended for the week following the appearance, after many complaints.[31] In April 2006, Steve-O later sued manager Nick Dunlap and attorney Jason Berk, accusing them of lying to him to fund their lavish lifestyles.[32]
On July 18, 2006, Steve-O became a late contestant on the British reality show Love Island broadcast on ITV from Fiji in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating he had stopped drinking, he asked for beer while on the show. On July 19, 2006, he abruptly left Love Island because he was not allowed the beer which he had requested.[33]
In November 2006, he went on a drug binge after being misdiagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition.[34] He was later examined by heart specialists who concluded he was in good health.[34]
In 2007, Steve-O starred in his own television show called Dr. Steve-O on the USA Network. In the show, he helped make his guests cool and "de-wussify" them. That same year he appeared in Jackass 2.5, which mainly consisted of material that did not appear in the second Jackass movie. Additionally, he appeared with some Jackass alumni in National Lampoon's TV: The Movie.
On February 23, 2008, Steve-O joined the rest of the Jackass crew for the Jackass MTV 24 Hour Takeover, which promoted JackassWorld.com. He participated in several stunts, and even debuted his rap music video which was executive produced by recording artist D-Jukes, leading to Mike Judge bringing back the duo of Beavis and Butt-Head for the first time in years to criticize it. During the live broadcast, Steve-O was kicked out of MTV studios on the request of executives for his behavior and intoxication.[36]
Bipolar disorder diagnosis
On March 9, 2008, after receiving an email from Steve-O that suggested his possible suicide, Steve-O's friends, including co-star Johnny Knoxville, became concerned he was a danger to himself and consulted with physician Drew Pinsky, who told them to get Steve-O to a hospital immediately. He was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold which was later lengthened to 14 days due to an alleged suicide attempt and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[37]
In a mass e-mail addressed to his friends, Steve-O expressed that he previously had thought of his drug use and bipolarity as a "good thing", but that he now realizes that his drug use was apparently hurting those he loved most.[38] He later stated that his drug use got so bad that he hallucinated an intervention with his friends, humorously stating that he knew he needed help once his hallucinations started urging him to quit drugs.[39]
On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine. He avoided jail with the successful completion of a treatment program.[40] In July, after 115 days of sobriety, Steve-O announced he was "back in the loony bin".[41] He returned to the mental institution, he said, because "I've had horrible mood swings and severe depression. My brain is fucked up from using so much cocaine, ketamine, PCP, nitrous oxide, and all sorts of other drugs."[42]
Post-rehab, Jackass reprised and comedy tours (2009–2012)
Steve-O in 2011
In March 2009, Steve-O was on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, paired with Lacey Schwimmer. After the first week, he complained of pinched nerves and back spasms and did not compete in the second week after injuring his back further by falling on his microphone pack during dress rehearsal. The judges based their scores on his performance at the dress rehearsal.[43] He was eventually eliminated in the sixth week of the competition.
On May 3, 2009, MTV premiered a documentary titled Steve-O: Demise and Rise about how his life was affected by the use of drugs and alcohol.[36] The show featured home-made video footage of Steve-O using drugs and vandalizing his apartment. In an August 2009 interview with Johnny Knoxville for The Times-Picayune, Knoxville on the topic of Steve-O's recovery and rehabilitation said "He's taking to sobriety like he took to drugs and alcohol, I'm very proud of him. I think we'll see him doing some stuff here really soon. As a matter of fact, I know we are."[44] He later stated "Something's coming. We're pretty excited ... I think it'll be a big year next year, but I don't want to talk about it yet."[44]
Steve-O later told Comedy Digital Radio station Barry that he has never seen the MTV documentary. "When I saw the footage of myself doing drugs I felt like I could see them, I could taste them. It made me crave them and as embarrassing as that footage is, that just seemed like another reason to get high. I couldn't watch it; I haven't watched it since then. The producers put it all together and finished it up without any input for me, it's better that way."[45]
Steve-O was part of Jackass 3D, the third installment of the Jackass series, released in October 2010.[46] The movie was in 3D and began production on January 25, 2010.[47] In late May 2010, Knoxville has stated that Steve-O's sobriety is at its best and "There is no beer on set this time around even if some of us wish there was". He also said "And to be honest it's going great. Everyone has had different injuries throughout which is a good sign and Steve-O is probably getting the best footage out of everybody. He is really going for it. He wants to prove to everyone he can do these stunts sober. It's been two years since he had a drink now. Everyone has been real supportive of him.".[48]
When Jackass 3D was released in 2010, the movie broke box office records.[49] In promoting the movie, he appeared on The Howard Stern Show, lighting himself on fire.[50]
In November 2010, Steve-O began touring the United States performing stand-up comedy on what he called "Steve-O's Entirely Too Much Information Tour". In early 2011, he announced a nine-month-long American comedy tour.[51] He appeared in Jackass 3.5, which was released in April 2011.
Steve-O at a 2011 book signing
On March 27, 2011, Steve-O was arrested at Calgary International Airport on outstanding charges. He was accused of assault with a weapon after an altercation with an audience member during a 2003 performance.[52] Steve-O was released after paying $10,000 bail.[53]
In May 2011, he took his stand-up show to Australia, playing a show in all the major cities.[54] In an interview with Comedy Digital Radio station Barry, Steve-O explained the genesis of his comedy tour, "Someone invited me to a famous comedy club in Los Angeles and they asked that I get on stage and do something outrageous. When I got to that comedy club I looked around and it occurred to me that the craziest thing I could possibly do by far would be to try stand-up comedy. Like, that was genuinely the most terrifying, outlandish just crazy thing that I could do."[45]
On September 13, 2011, during a taping of the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, Steve-O joked, "The last time this many nobodies were at a roast, at least Great White was playing". Steve-O has since apologized for the comment and requested that it be removed from the broadcast of the roast.[55] During the taping of the roast, Steve-O attempted to run into the fist of boxer Mike Tyson, but the first attempt did not work. Later, at the end of the roast, Steve-O made another attempt and this time connected, resulting in Steve-O getting a broken nose.[56] He also claimed to have been sober and clean for three and a half years. Steve-O was also shown to be visibly upset by Amy Schumer's joke about Ryan Dunn's death, but later stated he was not offended by the joke.[57]
It was announced on October 3, 2011, that Steve-O would be hosting truTV's new reality game show Killer Karaoke, the American version of the British competition show Sing If You Can. The show first aired at 9p.m. EST on November 23, 2012.[58]
He told US Weekly in November 2012 that he credited his two rescue dogs, Walter and Bernie, with helping him to maintain nearly five years of sobriety.[59]
Despite joining in 2005, Steve-O did not regularly upload on his YouTube channel of the same name and other channels until 2013. His main channel SteveO has amassed over 6.05 million subscribers as of February 2022.[60]
In 2014, Steve-O narrated a short video titled "What Came Before, featuring Steve-O: The Truth About Meat and Modern Farms", which was about some of the individual animals rescued by Farm Sanctuary. He also reveals the life of the less fortunate animals that are born into intensive farming in the US.[61]
In December 2014, Steve-O was announced as one of the competitors in the second series of the British TV show The Jump.[62] He was the ninth contestant eliminated.
On August 9, 2015, Steve-O climbed a construction crane in Los Angeles in a protest against SeaWorld. He lit fireworks and inflated a large whale blow-up doll on top of the crane. He broadcast the stunt on his Facebook page, resulting in LAPD and EMS responding with no knowledge of the stunt going on, and later was arrested after climbing down on charges of trespassing. Fans began a GoFundMe campaign for his bail.[63] For the protest, Steve-O was convicted of two misdemeanors and sentenced to 30 days of jail time and 36 months of probation.[64] Steve-O later admitted that the stunt was poorly thought out as he was nowhere near a SeaWorld.[39] He claims he told his attorney to get jail time because it would increase the publicity and make a statement about captivity.[65] He started his jail time on December 9, 2015. He is quoted saying "I mean, if your goal is to make a statement about captivity, you may as well get yourself locked up!"[66] Steve-O was released from jail after serving just eight hours in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.[67] In 2016, he released his first stand-up comedy special, Guilty as Charged.[68][69]
On March 9, 2018, Steve-O marked 10 years of sobriety.[70] On the September 2, 2020 episode 261 of the TigerBelly podcast, Steve-O discusses his work in the 12 step program, especially to address a sex addiction.
Gnarly and Jackass resurgence (2020–present)
On March 19, 2020, Steve-O started his own podcast titled Steve-O's Wild Ride! He hosts this podcast along with Scott Randolph and Paul Brisske.[71] In January 2023, fellow content creator and friend Vinny "Skinny Vinny" Imperati became the fourth co-host.[72]
Gnarly is Steve-O's second stand-up comedy special at the Gothic Theatre in Denver, Colorado. He presented stories, stunts and previously unseen footage to the audience. The special marks the first time the entire cast of Jackass reunited after the death of Ryan Dunn. It was released on July 18, 2020, and is available to watch on Steve-O's website.[73]
Steve-O starred in a supporting role in the film Guest House, released on September 4, 2020.[75]
During the first two days of production for Jackass Forever (2022), both Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville were hospitalized.[76] On December 15, 2020, it was publicly announced that Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O were hospitalized due to on-set injuries.[77][78] Steve-O also broke his collarbone, but that bit was cut out of the movie.[79] He served as a co-producer on Jackass Forever, and Jackass 4.5 (2022).
On July 11, 2021, during Shark Week, the Discovery Channel aired Jackass Shark Week. It featured Steve-O as well as other Jackass cast members including Knoxville, Chris Pontius, and new cast members Sean "Poopies" McInerney and Jasper Dolphin.
In 2021, Steve-O started going on tour throughout the United States. This tour, titled The Bucket List Tour, features Steve-O telling stories and showing stunts that he wasn't allowed to do for Jackass. He occasionally brought other Jackass members as guests for his live shows. He started going to Australia and New Zealand in February 2023, and to the United Kingdom in June and July 2023. It was released on his website on November 14, 2023.[80]
On April 12, 2022, Steve-O announced the title of his new book as A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I've Learned from a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions,[81][82] which was released on September 27, 2022.[83]
Personal life
Steve-O has said he holds citizenship in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[84][85][1]
He began dating stylist and set designer Lux Wright in 2017, and the pair became engaged in January 2018.[86] In January 2025, Steve-O stated on his podcast that he and Lux had separated, but remain on good terms, and still plan on starting an animal sanctuary together.[87]
Steve-O has been open about addiction and recovery. Following an intervention by his Jackass co-stars, he entered treatment in March 2008 and has stated that he has remained sober since March 10, 2008; he marked 17 years of sobriety in March 2025[88][89][90] In 2023, he discussed struggling with sex addiction and seeking treatment, including outpatient rehab.[91]
He is known for a gravelly speaking voice; after consulting a specialist, he said it stems from over-reliance on throat muscles rather than the vocal cords.[92]
Steve-O is pescatarian, and an animal-rights advocate; in October 2015 he received a 30-day jail sentence for a publicity stunt protesting SeaWorld.[93]
Family
Steve-O spoke about his family life on the September 2, 2020, episode 261 of the podcast TigerBelly with Bobby Lee and Khalyla Kuhn. Steve-O revealed that his mother, who also suffered from alcoholism, suffered an aneurysm on October 10, 1998, which was before he was well known. Steve-O stated that she suffered major cognitive and physical disabilitys as a result of the aneurysm and died in November 2003 at the age of 55.[94]
His father, despite being divorced from Steve-O's mother, returned from England when she suffered an aneurysm. On the TigerBelly podcast, Steve-O describes his father taking a moment outside the hospital to express regret for not fully supporting Steve-O's unconventional career path. Up to that point, Steve-O had not yet seen the success that the Jackass series would bring, which contrasted the corporate leadership career his father followed.[94]
Animal rights
In 2010, it was reported that Steve-O had become a vegan for both health and compassionate reasons. He stated that "being vegan, I can tell you, has benefited every single area of my life".[95] After the Jackass 3D stunt involving a ram (during which he injured his hand), he expressed some concern about doing stunts in the future that "mess with animals."[95]
In June 2011, Steve-O released an autobiography entitled Professional Idiot: A Memoir, co-written with David Peisner. He stated that he follows only a strict vegan diet and is one of the many celebrities that got involved in the NOH8 project. In July, he received PETA's Nanci Alexander award for his "voice against cruelty".[96][97] In 2013, due to his concern about animal rights, he stated that he was eating a vegan diet and that he did not wear fur or leather.[98]
In December 2018, Steve-O revealed that he was no longer a vegan, as he had become a pescatarian.[99] In 2019, he spoke out against "militant" vegans, stating that they do more harm than good.[100][101][102]
↑ China Despain Freeman (July 18, 2011). "Steve-O Receives Animal Rights Award". Ecorazzi. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
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