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The Jackass star planned to get the surgery done as a joke, until he actually had a conversation with a transgender person.
Steve-O has cancelled his surgery to get breast implants.
For those confused, the Jackass star was planning a bit where he, a cisgender man, would undergo a breast augmentation in order to provoke reactions from other men. He explained in a recent interview with Consequence of Sound that he was planning to "ride a pink Vespa around at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally completely in disguise, where nobody could tell who I was."
"And 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," Steve-O explained. "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, the reality star said that he changed his mind and cancelled the surgery after actually having a conversation with a transgender person. Steve-O explained that he previously hadn't engaged in "any dedicated meetings or conversations with trans people, because I didn't really feel that I had to."
"On the day 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," he recalled. "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."
"[They] 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," he recalled, adding, "It was really pretty heartbreaking, the level of oppression that was described."
Six states currently ban transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in government buildings, with an additional seven policing bathroom use in K-12 schools, according to the Movement Advancement Project. While there are no laws against having ID that matches one's gender identity, four states do not allow residents to legally change their gender marker, and nine that require proof of surgery, court order, or amended birth certificate.
Steve-O said that the conversation made him realize his pranks are "not all fun and games," and that the bit could be seen as "celebrating violence against trans people" by attempting to get laughs out of potentially violent responses.
"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," he said. "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.'"
Steve-O said that he's now "extremely grateful" that he didn't go through with the surgery, but still believes "the extent to which I was prepared to go through with that is hilarious in its own right."
"I think it's a very valuable trait to be able to admit when you've got things wrong," he said.
