Disturbing first ever Jackass stunt with real risk of death shown for first time in 27 years

The brand-new Jackass film, Jackass: Best and Last, features a mix of brand-new stunts filmed with the current cast in their 50s and never-before-seen footage of some of the gnarliest stunts that never made it to air.

This includes a new stunt that was dubbed the ‘most disgusting thing ever seen in a movie theatre’, with many viewers saying this is proof that the Jackass crew have still got it.

Whilst there are crews that are widely considered to do more dangerous stunts, with a British group called Dirty Sanchez essentially being a more extreme Jackass, the stunt that started Jackass is more extreme than anything even they did.

The stunt which is considered by some to have started Jackass is shown for the first time in 27 years in Jackass: Best and Last. This is the first stunt shown in the film, and even though it’s archival footage (and Knoxville isn’t dead in 2026 so viewers knew he probably made it out okay) it’s such a dangerous stunt viewers have reported having to watch through their fingers.

Knoxville could’ve died in the stunt which inspired Jackass

The self-defence test stunt pre-dated Jackass, but was included in the pilot (MTV)

Johnny Knoxville could have died several times in Jackass, whether it be his near-fatal run in with a bull that forced him to retire from stunts, or his fight with Butterbean that left him so concussed he began snoring immediately.

The stunt that began it all however saw him testing out four self-defence options, with Knoxville planning to write it as an article. He eventually pitched it to Jeff Tremaine, the co-creator of Jackass, who at the time managed a skateboarding magazine called Big Brother.

He proposed they film it, with Knoxville having his friend use pepper spray, a stun gun, and a taser on him.

The final part of this saw him shoot himself in the chest whilst wearing a bullet proof vest after his friend refused to shoot him.

Jeff Tremaine and Knoxville have spoken about how it happened, and how it led to Jackass

Knoxville wore a cheap bulletproof vest under his T-Shirt (Paramount Pictures)

Explaining the stunt on the Howard Stern show in 2010, Knoxville told Stern that he used the ‘cheapest bulletproof vest he could find’.

He stated that they drove out to the desert and his friend backed out of shooting him, so he turned the gun around and shot himself in the chest.

Tremaine explained on the new Jackass podcast, explaining that Jeff Bender who was filming tried to talk Knoxville out of the stunt the entire time he was filming it.

He revealed that the stuntman put porn magazines into the vest to reinforce it, calling it the ‘most amateur hour bullsh*t’ and said it was like watching a snuff film, but said that Knoxville was so compelling he knew he ‘had something’ and ended up contacting MTV, leading to the TV show Jackass.

The rest of the segment was included in the pilot to Jackass but Knoxville shooting himself was cut, but it was included in Jackass: Best and Last.

One fan said about the stunt: “went into the new Jackass with measured expectations bc of the clip show angle but the literal first thing they show you was shot in 1999 and it's the most insane thing i've ever seen someone do on camera.”

Another viewer replied, saying: “Even though I knew, pragmatically, that Johnny was not going to die, I was on the edge of my seat like he might have been dead this whole time.”

A second said: “I know he’s alive and I still watched through fingers.”

A third commented: “Wait did they actually show the Bullet Proof Vest test? That's amazing, for the longest time they kinda wanted everyone to forget that lol.”

Jackass: Best and Last is available to watch in cinemas now.