A $3-MILLION lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville's production company is hitting the next stage after a writer claimed he was tased on the set of a prank show.
Daniel Curry, 49, alleges Knoxville tased him on the set of The Prank Panel in September 2022 – an incident caught on video that left him with a broken fibula and torn ankle ligament, according to court records.
Curry, a veteran writer and producer, was serving as a consulting producer on the short-lived ABC series when the tasering happened on September 22, 2022, he claims.
The writer launched a negligence and battery lawsuit in 2024 against Knoxville, ABC Signature Studios, Kimmel's Kimmelot banner, ITV America and others connected to the series.
Now, Curry's lawsuit is heading to arbitration, a private process where a neutral third party decides the dispute outside of court, he said.
He claimed the incident permanently damaged his leg and is seeking $3 million in damages.
Curry said he's ready to go public with information he's kept private for years.
He accused comedian Eric André – who was also on set – of trying to downplay the incident as typical Jackass behavior.
"I'm not a public person," Curry said.
"I'm trying to just write and work and do good work. I'm an artist, not an attention seeker."
According to Curry's account, the taser was on set WHY.
The incident began when André attempted to taser Knoxville, who took the weapon off him, Curry claimed.
Curry, who was on set writing jokes for André, heard what sounded like lightning – the electrical discharge of a police taser.
"Johnny Knoxville entered the studio from outside with what I now know is a police taser," he said.
"There was a mass of people trying to avoid him. […] He just came into the room angry with a taser.
Despite Knoxville telling him he was "safe," Curry says the Jackass star then "charged at me with a taser.
"When I got hit with the taser, I tried to run away," he added.
"It seized my body and I went completely rigid and I collapsed into my leg."
'PERMANENT LIMITATIONS'
The impact broke Curry's fibula and damaged two tendons in his ankle, requiring months of physical therapy and leaving him with permanent limitations, he claimed in court documents.
"I function pretty well, I do my PT exercises, but I don't have a hundred percent functionality," Curry added.
Curry claimed nobody from the show checked on him while he was unwell.
Five days after the attack, Curry claimed he received a text message sent from Knoxville.
The message, allegedly sent to both Curry and André, contained what he claimed were threats about what would happen if they pranked Knoxville's girlfriend, then a costume designer on The Eric André Show.
The text, according to Curry, read, "Directly or indirectly no harm, embarrassment etc should come her way. She is a not combatant.
"And I wrote and deleted what would happen to someone should a person (may the god of your choice help him) make that fatal mistake but I decided not to include it here."
Curry says André began acting differently towards him after the incident and told him "Don't make a big deal out of it – Jackass guys hurt each other all the time."
Now facing arbitration instead of a jury trial, Curry is working with Congressional representatives to expand workplace assault protections.
Curry, a dad-of-two, added, "What am I teaching my kids if I'm getting assaulted and then just playing along with it? That's not a good look for anybody."
Reps for Knoxville, Kimmelot, ITV America, ABC Signature Studios, Upper Ground Enterprises, Saticoy Studios and GEP Talent Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
KIMMEL'S DILEMMA
Meanwhile, Kimmel returned to the air on Tuesday evening after his show was temporarily suspended by ABC due to the comments he made in response to the killing of political activist Charlie Kirk.
During his evening monologue on September 15, Kimmel appeared to falsely claim that Kirk's suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a conservative, sparking a firestorm online and irking his TV bosses.
Kimmel's show was sidelined for four days but was eventually reinstated to his usual evening slot on Tuesday.
At the time, The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed that the decision to pull Kimmel's show was made minutes before the crew started taping on the afternoon of September 17.
His suspension came at the time when a US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Congressman George Santos against Kimmel, accusing him of copyright infringement.
Santos accused Kimmel of deceiving him into producing videos on the Cameo app that were then used to ridicule him on the late-night hosts' talk show.
However, on September 15, a US Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Santos' suit, ruling Kimmel was protected under fair use laws, which allowed him limited use of copyrighted material without permission for humor and parody.
Santos is currently facing an 87-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August.
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