Getty Image / Christopher Polk
In a recent conversation inside Steve-O’s van, legendary actor and Hollywood royalty William Shatner recalled the horror of watching Steve-O break his own nose on Mike Tyson’s fist.
Shatner was a little fuzzy on the details at first and had remembered it being Johnny Knoxville who broke his nose by running full speed into Mike Tyson’s fist. Steve-O set the record straight, it was him.
William Shatner asked Steve-O straight up “what is it?” that drives Steve-O to do things like that. Steve-O’s explanation is simple. He calls is the “the highest level of attention seeking (behavior).”
This infamous incident took place after the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen. That show aired on Comedy Central back on September 19, 2011. All things considered, it wasn’t that long ago that Steve-O did this. It wasn’t as if it happened when he was a teenager.
Both William Shatner and Steve-O were guest roasters of Charlie Sheen’s. That event was hosted by Seth MacFarlane and was a huge deal at the time, during Charlie’s ‘Tiger’s Blood’ period when he was all over the Internet.
It is hard to imagine that Steve-O could’ve one-upped Charlie Sheen on his big night but that certainly seems to have been the case.
Steve-O has clearly had some professional help dissecting this stuff throughout the years. He told Shatner his “desire for attention outweighs (his) need for comfort.” Steve-O attributes this to a ‘lack of attention’ from his parents and growing up in 5 different countries as underlying causes of his attention-seeking behavior.
I only recently learned that Steve-O was born in Wimbledon, London. I learned this last week when he was detained after leaping off Tower Bridge in London… He’s still at it.