Bam Margera is a professional skateboarder, stunt performer and TV personality. He’s probably known best for his role in the early 2000s show Jackass. Bam is also known for his wild side, including having a history of heavy consumption of drugs and alcohol. Sadly, his troubles with substance addiction have continued for many years now. Let’s take a look at Bam Margera’s history with drugs, what he’s said about his experiences and how Bam is doing now.
Bam Margera’s History With Substance Use and Public Challenges
The infamous Bam Margera has had a long history of struggling with drugs and alcohol, starting in his twenties. Behind-the-scenes footage from the Jackass films often showed Bam drinking or intoxicated. This was also true for his other hit shows, Viva La Bam and Bam’s Unholy Union. After his shows ended, the TV personality went on a downward spiral of drugs and alcohol addiction, rehab stints and relapses.
Here’s a timeline of notable events:
- July 2009. Bam is hospitalized for being severely dehydrated after a 4-day drinking bender.
- December 2009. Friends and family hold an intervention, and Bam agrees to go to rehab. Unfortunately, he leaves after only 4 days without completing the program.
- 2011. Bam’s close friend Ryan Dunn dies, which intensifies Bam’s drinking problem.
- 2012. According to Bam, 2012 is the year he lost all control over his drinking as he grieved his friend’s death and dealt with bone spurs that forced him to pause skateboarding.
- 2015. Bam enrolls in rehab for a second time but leaves early without finishing treatment. After the rehab stint, Bam participates in a show called Family Therapy With Dr. Jenn with his mother and stays sober for several months.
- November 2017. In an interview, Bam says he’s been “mostly sober” since 2015.
- January 2018. Bam receives a DUI and enters rehab for the third time. This time, he stays sober for 7 months.
- End of 2018. After being robbed at gunpoint in Colombia, Bam relapses again.
- January 2019. Bam enters rehab for the fourth time and leaves after 10 days.
- March 2019. The TV personality has a few embarrassing and concerning public outbursts (online and in person) that cause his family to become concerned about his mental health. Bam is committed to a mental health treatment facility and released after a week.
- August 2019. Bam is removed from a flight for being too intoxicated to fly.
- May 2022-September 2022. During a very rough couple of months, Bam announces he completed 1 year of sobriety treatment and relapses a few weeks later. He then spends June-September being checked into rehab, leaving and rechecking himself in several times.
- March 2023: Bam is arrested for public intoxication.
- June 2023: After making some concerning comments online, the stunt performer is involuntarily committed.
Is Bam Sober?
It’s clear that Bam Margera has a long history of struggling with substance use disorder, trying to get help and relapsing.
In August 2018, when Bam was claiming to be 7 months sober, former Jackass co-star Steve-O said in an interview he didn’t believe that to be the truth. Steve-O shared, “I don’t [think it’s true]. Not to be calling him out or try to talk shit about him but just looking at what he’s posting, you can kind of see where he’s at. I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, he’s drinking.’ That’s sad and that’s what’s going to happen over and over until you do what works. There’s stuff we do that works. I love Bam and I want him to have a good life and be healthy. That’s all anybody wants.”
According to Bam himself, as of June 2025, he’s sober. In fact, he’s been sober for almost 2 years. He credits his love of skateboarding with helping him stay away from drugs and alcohol.
“I need skateboarding in my life or else I’ll die. I need skateboarding in my life in order to fulfill it. If you don’t have any passion for anything, then you lose purpose. When you lose purpose, you get bored, and then boredom leads to drugs and alcohol. I can’t get bored. I’m completely occupied with learning my skate tricks back.”
His friends believe he’s sober and are hoping he can stay clean this time for the sake of his son. In an interview, a close friend shared how Bam is doing recently. “He is focused on taking all the steps he needs to stay sober and make a good life for himself and his wife and his son. Being a dad brings him so much joy. He’s so proud of Phoenix and loves spending time with him. Addiction is a beast, though; a person can have all the reasons in the world to avoid drugs and they still get sucked back in, so there’s just no way of guaranteeing anything with an addict. But so far he’s been making the right choices, and his health has been drastically improving.”
Recovery Isn’t Always a Straight Road
As hard as it’s been to go through his addiction struggles so publicly, Bam’s openness has a lot of positive benefits. By sharing his story, he’s showing the public that addiction can happen to anyone and can take time to overcome.
Additionally, Bam’s story really shows the dark side of addiction. He spent over a decade of his life in a nonstop cycle of hitting rock bottom, going to rehab, getting better and relapsing. It’s a good reminder that recovery is nonlinear and ongoing. Relapses can happen, but they don’t mean you can’t get back to being sober and recovered.
The most important lesson to remember is to always try treatment again, even if a relapse has occurred. It took Bam 13 times, but hopefully he can now stay permanently sober. And there’s still hope for him, because substance abuse addiction is highly treatable. A study published in 2020 found that 75% of people who experience addiction eventually recover.
Addiction Treatment at FHE Health
Don’t allow your addiction to steal any more years from your life. Take a lesson from Bam Margera and get professional help so you can find sobriety and happiness.
FHE Health is one of Florida’s top rehabilitation centers, using evidence-based strategies for addiction treatment. Contact us today to discover how our programs can help you find your path to recovery.
