Steve-O is most prominently known for his various hijinks on the long-running reality stunt show, and subsequent film series, “Jackass.” The celeb has also been fairly candid with his former relationship with substances throughout the years, after his “Jackass” co-stars staged an intervention in 2008 and Steve-O was involuntarily sanctioned to a psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.
He previously explained on Joe Rogan’s podcast that alcohol and cocaine were his main vices, though he had also tried a number of other drugs before he got sober.
Steve-O, full name Stephen Glover, celebrated 16 years of sobriety this past March and continues to speak openly about his experience with drug use and recovery—though he recently had to deny an appearance on political commentator Bill Maher’s podcast as the host reportedly refused to not smoke cannabis during the interview.
Maher’s Podcast, “Club Random,” usually features Maher and his guest smoking cannabis during an hour-long, one-on-one interview. Evidently, Maher was unwilling to make an exception for Steve-O.
“I’m a clean and sober guy. It’s very important that I maintain my sobriety, it’s approaching 16 years,” Steve-O said on a recent episode of his own podcast, “Wild Ride!” “I am about to be sweet 16. Really, there’s nothing I value more than my sobriety. There’s nothing more that I protect than my recovery. I found it kind of upsetting when the Bill Maher podcast reached out and he smokes pot the whole time while he interviews people. I said, ‘I’d happily go on there, but while I’m on, out of respect for my sobriety, could he refrain from smoking pot?’ He said no, and that’s a dealbreaker.”
A social cannabis smoking session is not uncommon in modern-day podcasts. Even Steve-O mentioned that he had appeared on other podcasts hosted by cannabis enthusiasts, and they had agreed to avoid consumption during the interview with respect to his sobriety.
“Mike Tyson’s podcast is called ‘Hotboxin,’” Steve-O said. “Be real! All of these prolific potheads, I’ve been on their shows and it wasn’t so important to them to blow marijuana smoke in my face, but for Bill Maher it was a dealbreaker.”
That episode of “Wild Ride” was likely filmed more than a month ago, as Steve-O referred to his anniversary in the future tense but celebrated his 16-year sobriety anniversary on March 10.
Maher recently announced the launch of Club Random Studios, a podcast and entertainment hub to show off “authenticity from unfiltered celebrity voices.” The programming includes Maher’s podcast, along with “The Sage Steele Show,” hosted by Sage Steele.
After the story surrounding Steve-O first broke, some social media users pointed out that Maher has made exceptions for other guests.
Namely, during a recent interview with Sheryl Crow, Maher did not smoke weed and told her, “That’s when I need a joint… but I’d never light one up in front of you. But can I hold one?” After pulling a blunt from his pocket, Crow replied, “If I weren’t singing tomorrow, I’d say light that bad boy up right now.” Maher then said, “I’d never not. But for you? First of all, I would do this standing on my head, but it is a little like running a marathon for the first time.”
Last year, Steve-O spoke with a number of publications about his 15-year sobriety anniversary, along with the documentation of his rock bottom and early recovery in the 2009 MTV special, “Steve-O: Demise and Rise.”
“There’s something that people find inherently compelling about the misfortune of others,” he reflected to Independent. “Entertainment and recovery are almost mutually exclusive concepts. There’s nothing entertaining about recovery—but it’s super entertaining to watch somebody out of control on drugs. I think there was something super lurid about the documentary, but there was something inspirational to some people too.”
While multiple outlets have reached out to Maher and his team for comment, he has yet to provide any statement on the matter.
