Joe Rogan Experience #2463 - Steve-O

Steve-O experienced his most successful year in 2022 due to the Jackass movie's popularity, post-pandemic spending, and favorable economic conditions. However, this peak was followed by a period of intense online criticism regarding his merchandise promotion and aggressive audience management, which he took to heart.

Steve-O states, 'the year of 2022... I had the most successful year of my life... And then... the internet turned on me kind of... people saying that all like all I do is promote merch.' He adds, 'when I see a negative comment about me, if I agree with it, then it really bothers me.'

Steve-O genuinely agreed with some of the online criticism, particularly about his perceived over-promotion of merchandise and his harsh reactions to disruptive audience members during his shows. This led him to consciously adjust his behavior, improving his stage presence and reducing his focus on selling.

Steve-O explains, 'I spent like 2024, 2025 like very mindfully addressing the... criticism with which I agreed.' He notes that after he 'stopped reacting so much like the problem mellowed out' regarding audience disruptions.

Despite winning $1 million for charity on a Mr. Beast challenge, Steve-O found the experience less transformative for his personal life and public perception than he anticipated, highlighting how major public achievements don't always translate to profound personal change.

Steve-O states, 'I won a million dollars, I gave it to Doctors Without Borders. Like, I just thought, 'Oh man, this is going to be lifealtering.' And like it came in... But other than that, like my like I thought it would be lifealtering and it really wasn't.'

Steve-O decided to stop promoting products he felt were potentially harmful, such as gambling sites, after a moment of self-reflection during a podcast recording with Mark Wahlberg. He committed to only promoting things that are 'good for people.'

Steve-O recounts, 'I had the audacity to cut from this thoughtful conversation about faith with Mark Wahlberg to an ad for gambling... I made a decision on that day hiking with my dog. I said, I'm I'm not going to promote anything unless it's good for people.'

Joe Rogan articulates a perspective on transgender bathroom access that prioritizes biological sex for safety, particularly for women. He acknowledges gender dysphoria but warns against loopholes that could be exploited by 'perverts,' citing examples of biological males in women's prisons.

Rogan states, 'What is your chromosomes... All these mental gymnastics that seemingly intelligent people do to justify biological males competing with females... If you give a creep... a Willy Wonka golden ticket to go into the women's locker room and the women's bathroom... that's real too.'

Steve-O and Duncan Trussell discussed the philosophical concept that the brain might not generate consciousness but rather acts as an antenna that receives it. This model helps explain phenomena like near-death experiences and reincarnation, suggesting consciousness exists independently of the physical brain.

Steve-O describes, 'the brain is not a generator. It's not a transmitter. Yeah. It's an antenna... you can take a radio and with a sledgehammer just smash it to smitherreens. You've done nothing to disrupt the actual signal.'