A lot of people don’t consider this before signing up for America’s Got Talent, but when you’re hanging upside down, 30 feet in the air, confined to a straightjacket, in between two cars that are about to swing at you like they’re logs and you’re that Imperial walker from Return of the Jedi, you run the risk of getting hurt.
Take, for example, the case of Jonathan Harvey, better known by the stage name Jonathan Goodwin. The 43-year-old daredevil and Britain’s Got Talent regular used to get up to all sorts of death-defying malarkey: escaping from being wrapped in chains and buried in gravel or hanging by his ankles from a trapeze and setting himself on fire. He even made the transition to American audiences, breaking into the semifinals of America’s Got Talent in 2020.
Then, in 2021, the escapologist was rehearsing for a stunt on the (understandably) short-lived AGT spinoff America’s Got Talent: Extreme. The performance involved Goodwin, who is a human man made out of flesh, being strung up 10 meters above the ground, upside-down, wearing a straight jacket. In theory, he was to escape the straight jacket before two cars swung down from either side, crushing him.
Goodwin’s stunt went horribly wrong. According to a lawsuit filed against the show’s producers and shared by Deadline, Goodwin stated that what happened was due to extreme negligence behind the scenes: The cars were released early, and Goodwin was crushed between them, catching fire in the process.
What resulted was a laundry list of grievous injuries, including third-degree burns, numerous broken bones, the loss of a kidney, and the dislocation of his spine, resulting in likely permanent paralysis below the waist. He was reportedly released from the hospital in February of 2022 after a four month stay.
Per paperwork filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 11, “Because of Defendants’ conscious disregard for the safety of others and for their gross wanton and reckless breaches, Mr. Harvey suffered catastrophic, life-altering injuries.”
Goodwin, meanwhile, has elected to ease up on acts of derring-do, stating in an Instagram post that he “may leave the daft s*** alone for a while, but I have a lot left to do in this world,” adding in that same post: “To death I say nananana boo boo… and to the rest of you… watch this space.”
America’s Got Talent: Extreme, hosted by Nick Cannon, was shuttered after four episodes.
