During the press tour for “Jackass Forever,” Johnny Knoxville repeatedly denied rumors that the film would be the last installment of the “Jackass” franchise.
And that may be true, though Knoxville & Co. are filming again, likely on the new series “The Prank Patrol,” according to a lawsuit filed on Friday by a handyman who alleges he was the object of a recent prank. The ABC comedy series, set to premiere in 2023, features Knoxville along with Eric Andre and Gabourey Sidibe pranking unsuspecting folks and then deconstructing how the pranks are done.
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Khalil Khan filed the suit in Long Beach Superior Court, alleging that he was subjected to a “terrifying ordeal” after signing up for a job on TaskRabbit in October.
According to the complaint, Khan went to a home for what he thought was a simple repair job. He alleges that the homeowner asked him to repair a dimmer switch, and then threatened to beat him up if he didn’t do it right, saying “I know jiu-jitsu.”
Within minutes, a lamp went out, and a young girl ran into the room screaming “You killed my pony.” Khan protested that he hadn’t done anything, but the homeowner and the girl led him to a room where it appeared that a pony was being kept on a life-support machine.
Khan then looked outside and saw that his car was being towed, according to the suit. He took out his phone to call the police, but one of the men told him that if he did so, he would be arrested for cocaine possession, and displayed a bag of white powder.
“At this point, Plaintiff was in a panic,” the lawsuit states. “In the span of just minutes, he had been threatened with being beaten up, told he botched the repair job, accused of murdering a pony, had his car taken without his permission, and was now being told that he would be arrested for possession of illicit narcotics.”
Knoxville then emerged and revealed that the whole thing was a prank, and that all of the participants were actors. Khan alleges that he was offered a few hundred dollars, and was expected to laugh the whole thing off.
“But Plaintiff was not amused, and remains unamused,” the suit states. “He has been badly shaken and traumatized by this episode.”
The suit alleges that Khan has suffered lack of sleep, anxiety and emotional distress. He also fears that if the incident is ever released to audiences, he will be subjected to “embarrassment and ridicule.”
A phone call to Knoxville’s production office was not immediately returned, and his reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Jackass Forever” was released in February and grossed $80 million worldwide.
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