Steve‑O has stepped into a conversation that’s been getting a lot of heat online.
After a bunch of skateboarders and artists spoke out against the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and President Trump’s immigration policies, Steve‑O posted something that didn’t land the way he meant it.
Skate culture has been vocal about what’s been happening in Minneapolis where federal immigration agents have been involved in multiple fatal shootings of civilians, including Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, and protests have followed those incidents.
In the middle of that, the Jackass star made a sarcastic comment about “most immigrants being murderers” that some people took seriously.
He quickly found himself getting angry messages from fans and followers who thought that was a real belief.
To clear things up, Steve‑O posted an apology on his social media and explained that he was being sarcastic, not serious.
He said he was just as upset by the news about ICE’s role in the Minneapolis incidents as anyone else, and that the comment was meant as absurd satire, not a real statement about immigrants.
He pointed out that statistically a tiny fraction of the world’s population ever commits homicide, and he said he absolutely doesn’t think immigrants are murderers. If anything, he wrote, a group more likely to kill would be ICE agents in the current climate, not immigrants.
The 51-year-old apologized to people who took his joke the wrong way and said he didn’t mean to cause confusion or hurt anyone.
He admitted it was disappointing to be misunderstood but wanted to set the record straight that he does not support violence or hate toward immigrants.
Before Steve‑O weighed in, skaters like OG pro Tyrone Olson had backed Thrasher magazine’s criticism of the Minneapolis enforcement actions, saying things like “Fck ICE and President Trump,” and others in the skate and creative communities also stopped working with or promoting the agency.
Brooklyn Projects even made skate tees saying “FCK ICE” to make sure their message was seen.
With all that noise online, it makes sense why some messages get misunderstood.
What Steve‑O seemed to be trying to do was make a point about how he feels regarding what’s been going on with immigration enforcement, but the way he put it didn’t hit right for a lot of people at first.
His apology and explanation were meant to fix that and show his real stance.
Steve-O Posted:
"I have been just as horrified and saddened by the atrocities committed by ICE as everyone else, so it’s come as a complete shock to me that anyone thought I was serious when I made an absurd, sarcastic comment about “most immigrants being murderers.”
Factually, less than 0.1% of the human population will ever commit homicide, so of course I don’t believe that. If there’s a group of people more likely to murder anyone, it would be ICE agents, not immigrants.
To all of the people sending me angry messages: apologies for the false alarm. I promise you, I wasn’t being serious at all. Man, what a bummer to be misunderstood around that one…"