Eric Andre, Johnny Knoxville And The Taser Blast That Ended A 20 Year Friendship On The Set Of A Jimmy Kimmel Production
If you want to skip all the words below just watch the TikTok above. Also! Obligatory "all is *~alleged~* to cover my ass here. Ok here we go:
Between Two Ferns, The Tom Green Show, The Chris Gethard Show... There's lots of solid twists on the classic late night format, but, in my opinion, none more brilliant than The Eric Andre Show. I was late to the game by the time I finally saw it - I'd just gotten out the Marines and was able to smoke a lil weed again - and I ended up sitting on the couch until sunrise binge-watching every episode, cackling with laughter and having to look away every 3 seconds from second hand embarrassment.
I'd never seen anything that hit me like that (outside of YouTube's Canon Ball Dookie Original & Hippo Fart Explosion) and I was blown away by Eric Andre's ability to commit to the wildest, most out-there, creative, physical bits, often with a calm, perfectly deadpan delivery in the face of agonizing awkwardness.
Around the same time, I'd landed a job as a production department assistant at Comedy Central and my dream was to learn the biz & work my way into a writer role somewhere (ah to be naive, dumb and WILDLY over-confident again!).
I started doing open mics, joined a sketch team & took improv classes, and over the years on social media I began following not just the leads but the writers of some of my favorite shows in hopes there was something I could glean. Thus, at some point I followed Dan Curry, a writer for Eric Andre who went on to become the exec producer & head writer (and brain behind Bird Up, Ranch Bro, the Octopus, Sprite Dad, Kraft Punk, Society’s Lies, Bensch Mensch, Cement Shoes, Goober Driver….):
I never interacted with him, and in the rare times one of his posts did pop up it was usually just a snapshot from the show or a pic with his dogs. Then my career path changed (many, many times) but I never unfollowed. Just seemed like a good dude.
All that's to say, fast forward nearly a decade now where over the weekend I was doing my usual late night stuck-in-the-rocking-chair-with-my-baby-zonked-out-in-my-arms scrolling when I saw one of his posts come up, and it wasn't the usual. Not a dog or show promo in sight…
Instead, a pretty serious allegation of assault at the hands of another big-name comedian, Johnny Knoxville, right in front of his longtime friend/collaborator Eric Andre, and on the set of an ABC show produced by Jimmy Kimmel, Prank Panel. The incident happened in 2022, but he'd kept quiet until a few weeks ago when the Disney lawyers said they wanted to throw out the lawsuit & move into arbitration, and now Curry is ready to shout about it from the rooftops.
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Intrigued, I tapped to read the blog he'd posted to his Substack. Here's the first part:
On September 22, 2022, while working off-camera as a creative consultant for ABC Television’s Prank Panel, I was chased down and assaulted with a stun gun. This act, courtesy of Executive Producer/celebrity Johnny Knoxville, was not consensual, unscripted, and a total surprise to me – as well as the dozens of crew, network staff and executives that witnessed it first hand. The immediate aftermath left me with a broken leg and a severely sprained ankle. This was my first time working with Knoxville and I did not and do not know him personally. I never consented to being physically touched, let alone with an electroshock assault weapon. I’m a writer, producer, sometimes performer and director. I have a healthy respect for stunt professionals, but no aspirations to be one.
Top of the food chain, Prank Panel was Executive Produced by Jimmy Kimmel, so I assumed the matter would be handled with integrity. But red flags began to pop up about a week later when I received a copy of the incident report, which failed to mention the stun gun or my assailant, stating “PT (patient?) was running/rolled ankle & fell” as well as the objectively insulting “Object causing injury: self.” When I challenged the production about the accuracy of the report, (I allege) they refused to address or acknowledge my concerns, essentially blaming me for what turned out to be permanent physical damage to my ankle. Distressed and alarmed by this intellectually dishonest (alleged) cover up, I decided to obtain legal counsel – for the first time in my life.
You might think, "Well it's Johnny Knoxville, no shit this is gonna happen." And ok, maybe on the Jackass set (and even then, still shitty if it's just some super random background worker and if you leave them out to dry afterwards), but I'd argue this was a corporate ABC set & that wasn't the vibe. And either way, lying on the injury report sucks because that could effect a lot for Curry moving forward regarding care & compensation. The part that seemed to bother him most though, and that he didn't bring up on his blog, was the betrayal he felt from the friend who came up with him in the standup scene over 20 years ago:
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According to witnesses the attack was sad and no one was laughing, and it occurred right after Eric Andre had tried to tase Knoxville for all the times he'd been tasing him on the set. After grabbing the taser from Andre, Knoxville allegedly made his way backstage looking for someone in Andre's crew, and Curry happened to be the closest target.
When Curry hit up Andre in the weeks after asking about the injury report, he allegedly brushed him off, basically asked him to be cool about it, and began to distance himself. Meanwhile Curry was stuck on a scooter, in a boot, and with physical therapy for 6 months, and pain that continues today.
I could go on about it but you can read the rest of Curry's blog here. And I think I went down such a rabbit hole on this because it's a bummer to see somebody get gaslit & punched down on, and he's got two young kids and I know how much it sucks to have an injury that fucks up your ability to parent them fully for a while. Also, I guess I was kind of shocked that a comedian I admired would leave a longtime friend, and such an undeniable part of his success, hanging like that.
He also said he received threats from Knoxville, and I'd thought he was a (crazy but) good dude, too. And not saying either are inherently terrible people, but why would they help cover this up so Disney could save a few bucks? It's not like they're hard up, and it's not like Knoxville had a reputation to protect where it would ruin a dud of a show if this came out. Just look up Johnny Knoxville + lawsuit.
Worth noting, an anonymous TikTok account hit me up to say Curry was lying, but when I asked them to elaborate they disappeared. I also reached out to another producer who confirmed Curry was indeed pretty fucked up afterwards, and he was in a cast on a scooter. "He was trying to pacify everybody and get through the show." The opposing lawyers have also confirmed the film footage exists so there's not much to lie about. Here's where it stands now:
On Monday, August 26, I filed a report at the West Valley Community Police Station so a third party could investigate my claims. I am sick of pretending this didn’t happen, tired of the contempt for my right of consent, and the pushback I’ve endured for standing up for my basic bodily autonomy. I am a human being with agency, not a non-playable character from Grand Theft Auto.
At this point it seems like to Curry it's not about money or getting someone in trouble, it's one of those "principle of the thing" things, and it also seems to be cathartic for him to let it all out now. (There's more of the legal details on Curry's blog, especially regarding getting hold of the footage, but I'm too dumb to explain it). Anyways, I hope that justice is served, Eric Andre ends up finally standing up for his friend and Knoxville sticks to tasing his own balls for a while.