Steve-O is offering an apology after comments he made about undocumented immigrants in a recent episode of his Wild Ride podcast, telling fans his remarks were intended to be “absurd’ and “sarcastic.”
The remarks in question, which were swiftly called out, stem from a Wild Ride episode featuring Canadian actor and comedian Harland Williams. In the episode, originally shared on Feb. 3, the Jackass and Wildboyz star asks Williams if he’s “afraid of” ICE. In recent months, the agency has been widely criticized for its aggressive tactics, and more specifically, the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
“Because I’m Canadian? No, I’m not afraid of ICE,” Williams answered before speaking more about his own stance on immigration, arguing that he has “respect” for the system and personally “went through a hell of a lot to get here legally.”
As Williams put it, he “did the dance” and “spent every cent” during the process.
“Why is it that so many people who don’t have this respect that you have are murderers?” Steve-O then asked, leading to apparent confusion from Williams, who told the podcast host to repeat the question.
“There’s so many of these people who are illegally in America,” Steve-O added. “It’s like, the majority of them are murderers.”
Williams immediately pushed back.
“No, that’s a fallacy. That’s a huge fallacy,” the Half Baked and There’s Something About Mary actor said. “Think about it. Think about seven billion people on the planet. What percentage of those human beings in all cultures across the globe would you say are murderers?”
To assert that “most of them are murderers,” Williams added, is “improbable.”
Now, Steve-O has apologized, saying he “wasn’t being serious at all” when making these remarks.
“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,’” he wrote in an Instagram post shared this week. “Factually, less than 0.1 percent 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.”
Steve-O continued: “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.”
Numerous celebrities have publicly spoken out against ICE during Trump’s second term. At this month’s Grammys, Bad Bunny included an “ICE out” message during an acceptance speech.
“We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens,” Benito said at the ceremony, which saw him bagging multiple wins, including Album of the Year. “We are humans, and we are Americans.”