Steve-O says police were concerned about copycats after his jump from London bridge

“Jackass” star Steve-O said he was briefly detained by authorities in London this week after jumping off Tower Bridge as part of a publicity stunt.

Dressed in shorts, an “I Love London” T-shirt, a bucket hat and socks while carrying an umbrella, all emblazoned with the Union Jack, the entertainer leaped from the bridge’s railing and into the River Thames below, according to photos and video of the stunt shared Friday in an Instagram post and story. Onlookers can be heard shrieking as Steve-O jumped. Police officers greeted him at the foot of the bridge, and later led him into a police car.

“I was detained by police after doing this jump off the Tower Of London Bridge yesterday, but they were totally cool,” Steve-O wrote, adding that the stunt was meant to promote his July 14 comedy special in London as part of his “Bucket List” tour.

Steve-O was uninjured and was not arrested or charged in the incident.

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A spokesperson for London police told BBC News that officers had been called to the area Thursday afternoon for “reports of a person in the water close to Tower Bridge.”

“The person was spoken to by officers,” the police spokesperson said.

Steve-O told Entertainment Weekly that a police supervisor warned him that there had been three other people who had jumped from Tower Bridge in a similar fashion, but as suicide attempts. One of the attempts was successful as the river current caused an individual to drown, he added.

“They were just very, very sensitive about legitimate suicide attempts and really underscored their concern about people jumping off the bridge to kill themselves,” Steve-O said. Authorities worried others would follow the entertainer’s lead.

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It was unclear which suicide incident police were referring to in their conversation with Steve-O. The most recent death along the same bridge was that of Zaheid Ali, a 13-year-old boy who jumped into the Thames and died in 2021. A recent inquest found that the boy had been viewing and posting content about suicide while at home during a pandemic lockdown.

“I just don’t want to create the impression that I’m making light of suicide,” Steve-O said, “and I’d even like to take that one step further and encourage anyone who’s in emotional or mental distress to reach out and get support.”

Steve-O, whose real name is Stephen Glover, was born in London and spent his first six months there. He said he had jumped off the same bridge two decades earlier in another stunt. In 2014, he also performed a back flip into the San Antonio River. He later sarcastically said, “I did a good deed today by proving it’s not safe to jump off the bridge” at the San Antonio River Walk, citing the shallow water at the popular tourist site.

The “Jackass” star also has a long list of Southern California publicity stunts.

In 2014, Steve-O climbed onto a sign above the 5 Freeway in San Diego, defacing the sign by adding “sucks” after the word “SeaWorld.” The stunt was meant to support critics of SeaWorld who assert that the park mistreats its orcas. He was arrested and ultimately cited with a traffic infraction. The following year, Steve-O again took aim at SeaWorld, this time scaling a construction crane in Hollywood with an inflatable orca and wearing a “Blackfish” T-shirt, which references the 2013 documentary critical of keeping orcas in captivity and using them in shows. He shot fireworks off the crane before voluntarily climbing down. The stunt drew dozens of firefighters, police and a rescue helicopter. After pleading no contest to trespassing and using fireworks, he was sentenced to 30 days in county jail and also ordered to serve three years’ probation and to stay away from the Hollywood Entertainment District. He was released just nine hours into his sentence due to overcrowding at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

Most recently, Steve-O returned to Hollywood in 2020, along Cahuenga Boulevard and Yucca Street, attaching himself to a billboard under several layers of black duct tape that covered his almost-naked body. He was promoting his comedy special “Gnarly.” After taking selfies and posting about the stunt on Instagram, he was removed from the sign by firefighters. No criminal charges were filed since Steve-O had rented the billboard for the stunt.