Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Jeff Tremaine, ‘Jackass: Best and Last‘ serves as the capstone entry of the ‘Jackass’ franchise, finishing things off in style. Part compilation of the team’s greatest hits, and part series retrospective, the reality slapstick comedy film also brings in its fresh share of comically absurd, dangerous, but nonetheless hilarious stunts and practical jokes. Amidst this blend of old footage and new content, however, one thing that strikes as unusual is the absence of Brandon Cole “Bam” Margera, the stuntwork and skateboarding icon whose name is synonymous with the success of ‘Jackass’ as a franchise itself. Though we catch a few glimpses of him in never-before-seen footage from previous ‘Jackass’ installments, he cannot be found in the more recent stunts. This comes after his limited role in the film ‘Jackass Forever,’ and has left fans curious.
Bam Margera Declined to Return For the Last Jackass Movie
While Brandon Cole “Bam” Margera does make an appearance in ‘Jackass: Best and Last’ across archival footage from earlier seasons and movies, he does not feature in any of the newly filmed material. This makes the finale film part of the later movies in ‘Jackass’ history to have no new work from Bam, but it is not a creative decision that came out of nowhere. Reportedly, the crew reached out to him in late 2025 to discuss his potential reappearance in the show, as well as the release of older, unreleased footage of some of his iconic stunts. While Bam’s team gave the green light for the latter proposition in early 2026, his absence from the new material was also confirmed around the same time.
In a conversation with Esquire, Johnny Knoxville gave his own account explaining Bam’s absence from the movie. “He was invited to be in Jackass: Best and Last, but he’s not there yet. So he declined,” Knoxville said, “I love him. I respect his decision. We all wanted him in it, but that’s fine. He didn’t want to be. We’re good.” However, Bam himself has a very different perspective on the whole event, and it all came down to not wanting to associate with Knoxville and series co-creator Jeff Tremaine. While talking to Rolling Stone, Bam said that he had plans to watch the finale film, and while he denied having any bad blood with the cast of the franchise, he emphasized that a reunion is not happening any time soon.
Bam Margera Left the Team Amidst a Controversy During the Making of Jackass Forever
Even before the making of ‘Jackass: Best and Last,’ Brandon Cole “Bam” Margera had decided to maintain his distance from ‘Jackass’ productions, telling CinemaBlend, “You couldn’t offer me enough money to want to do another Jackass with them. The damage has been done.” His comments refer primarily to what unfolded during the production of the penultimate ‘Jackass’ film, ‘Jackass Forever.’ While Bam was initially in the cast, his involvement in the film was terminated after a dispute over the conditions of a wellness agreement, which required regular drug and alcohol testing, as well as other treatment-related measures. Bam, who has openly talked about his battle with substance abuse over the years, claimed that coercive practices were involved in the signing of the agreement and that its requirements were intrusive.
In August of 2021, Bam filed a lawsuit against Paramount, Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and others, chiefly alleging that he had been wrongfully terminated and discriminated against. The case was resolved the following year with a private settlement, the details of which have remained out of public knowledge since. Bam maintains a different opinion on the turn of events than Knoxville, and said in his interview with CinemaBlend, “They have like new dudes, and what they did to me, making me go to treatment and paying for it, and then not putting me in a movie, and, you know, I had to go to court over it.” While there is ambiguity as to what exactly led to Bam’s exit from ‘Jackass,’ his limited appearance through newly released archival footage still functions as a send-off to his iconic presence within the franchise.
Read More: Where Was Jackass: Best and Last Filmed?
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