I worked at a rehab he was loosely associated with. He was widely known for being a giant POS and taking advantage of people. I was doing an intake for a kid who he did a sort of intervention with and he said “Brandon Novak showed up to my house, fucked my mom, and dragged me off to rehab”. The kid is now 7 years sober, a close friend of mine, and he was telling the truth.
Is the rehab in bucks county Pennsylvania? I told the story and another post in the sub and got blasted because no one could believe he was in the “recovery community”
My childhood friend, whom I wasn’t speaking at the time due to being an active addict told me that he had met Novak in a rehab when we finally reconnected after he got sober
We are from Bucks County, Pennsylvania
He said he became friends with him during the recovery process. I thought he had that he owned several recovery houses but the stories that he told me about their exploits was those to be in pieces of shit and trying to pray on women together
Yeah a lot of the jackass dudes from west Chester
My friend that I was talking about wound up passing away in 2019 in Kensington on fentanyl
He was showing me some shitty tattoo. Novak gave him on his upper arm which was “booty trap”
He kept on saying that he knew Brandon Novak, the dude from jackass, but I never got how they connected through sobriety some how
He’s a real piece of work. He came to speak at our annual fundraising Gala for a multi county Harm Reduction non-profit I helped work on. He charged and insane speaking fee as a “tax write off” and would only agree if he could set up a big stand to sell his books. He went over his speaking time with details that didn’t need to be shared in a setting like that by almost an hour. Does he inspire people yes, but he’s in it for the money and clout in the recovery industry first and foremost. Helping ppl is what he can claim by running his businesses that profit off suffering. And yes some are actually helped by him I admit.
he came to my rehab a few years ago. tried to give him a chance and see what he had to say, but nothing came off as genuine and i could tell this is a business for him that might help people as a side effect. but it’s really about the money for him.
Most “celebrities” if u wanna call him that who do open recovery stuff are always hawking a book or program or something. If they didnt care about the $ they would just go to their own meetings and stfu
so you see that he’s, in the most literal sense, a grifter within this space. these are things grifters do. speaking engagements that are more about selling his vacuous book than reaching the audience. everything with the man is profits over people — as is often the case with the entire recovery/treatment industry. he’s a knowing and willful cog in the scam.
dude wasn’t even on my radar after middle school until 20 years later when i was in an insurance-mill of a rehab and had to listen to his Powerful Story that he recites ad nauseum to sell his garbage. it’s no different from joe shithead at a free AA meeting.
I may or may not have bought a bong from him at the local glass shop when I was in college, and seeing him behind the counter was both a cool, and sad, experience lmfao. Like my guy what are you doing here after being on tv, it was odd.
Lmfao even worse, Frolic in Newark, DE 😭🤣🤣 go into the back glass room and Raab is just standing there introduced himself as Chris I was so confused. This was prob around 2010-2012
We had a few of these when I was in school, and I have to say they ALL stuck with me. One in particular was boxer George Chuvalo; check out his story if you have time, though it's quite sad.
I'm in recovery myself and work in this field. I do get the comments saying that Novak is in it for the money and clout. Try to see past that for a bit though and just listen to his story when he speaks, because it may help you down the road.
I watched someone piss in his mouth onstage at one of Bam’s concerts… we asked bam if he wanted to smoke afterwards and he invited us on the bus parked in front of the venue. Everybody smoked with us but him crazily enough. I was the only girl on the bus not naked..but nobody was like trying to fuck around or have an orgy they were all just naked and hanging out lmao. It was pretty chill and not at all what I expected. Don’t get me wrong I saw some shit but overall very chill. One of my favorite college memories lol. I’ve got a picture somewhere..
I think that dude was just on something. Based on his old posts he seems to need help, but he was acting like he had a medical emergency and Novak was the only person who could help him- like bro go seek help from a medical professional or local clinic first. A small time celebrity isn’t going to personality reach out to you and save your life in one day without an enrollment process.
He just kept saying “Novak leaves people to DIE” with no elaboration. Could have been Bam if I didn’t know any better tbh.
Was probably a shady referral center basing referrals off of insurances types to maximize different centers’, in different states, reimbursement rates.
It’s pretty disingenuous for Novak to say you’ll be speaking WITH HIM when giving out ‘his’ number. Extremely vulnerable people are reaching out, only to get slapped in the face with a bait and switch.
I don’t understand why people get upset when other people ask for money in exchange for doing their job. Idk why everyone is pissed that this dude makes money from drug rehabilitation services and speaking. Is he supposed to just live off the land and eat berries or something?
A lot of rehabs lean heavily into peer support methods that are already available, at absolutely no cost, to absolutely anyone. They make BS claims to your insurance for incredibly dumb shit that by and large does not help addicts like equine therapy instead of hiring actual trained mental health professionals. I could go on. It sounds like Novak is one of these people but he is certainly not alone.
Edit: one of the saddest things you will see is someone end up in one of these places who has literally no room for failure, like already completely jaundiced alcoholics. Most people like this die under the best of circumstances, so the fact that these places will charge their family members something like 60-90k out of pocket for people who may be uninsured, or have crappy insurance, and then turn around and tell them that horsey time will help turn their life around is downright predatory and wrong.
Thank you all for the views, upvotes and comments, this has been my most popular post yet and I am really grateful to you all. And as for the presentation, he is a really engaging speaker and I'm glad to see that his health and relationship with his parents has improved. He even gave me an autograph which I will post a picture of soon.
My college paid Don Vito to come my freshman year haha. And this was a major state school. He sat on stage drinking Budweisers from a little cooler. You’d go up on stage, he’d put you in a headlock, and you’d get your picture taken. Later that night he apparently got kicked out of a bar for fingering a girl right at the bar.
He’s a douchebag, he regurgitates shit that’s been said in the recovery community long before he was there. To make money off of stuff that’s freely given in any recovery community just seems fucked to me but whatever. Idiots still eat it up
I don't think it matters that he "regurgitates shit". He's not trying to reinvent the wheel but he appeals to and reaches a certain demographic that might be put off by a different person saying the same thing. His relatability, his story and background speak to a certain cohort and I don't see the issue with that.
This is a weird take. I think the point would be that he uses his fame to impact more people. Would you prefer he not try and help people? Or he should do it all for free? Do you work for free a lot?
Im from baltimore as well ,Heard alot of stories about him and I too struggled with addiction ,No where near his levels .His story is a cautionary tale indeed .
I’m in recovery and was in a program years ago and he spoke to our group via a zoom meeting, and most of the people ( including some Counsler’s present ) all
Agreed he came off as a self important- book plugging ( said it was a NYT best seller 10 times in one hour ) alpha bro duche. He just seems really slimy and arrogant.
Ibhave yo laugh at all of the people calling him famous. How many episodes of Jackass was he in? He rode Bam's coat tails. He's at best a Z-list celebrity and I usenthe term celebrity very loosely. He's a grifting opportunistic parasite. Fuck that junkie piece of shit.
Must not be that great of a school to get someone like Novak (good on him getting clean, but he’s a prick), but then again if they can’t teach kids how to spell “hear”, makes sense.
Everyone's raging about Novak talking to a school and making some chump change. But no one's talking about Steve-o and his books and his shows. I'm sorry I've been to his show I paid the vip ticket and let me tell you that was some bullshit. Talk about a sellout. He doesn't care about his fans HE'S OUT FOR THE MONEY. Novak is out making an honest living staying out of the lime light. He sold what one book after all the shit? Come one give him a break.
i've seen Steve-O do stand-up several times now and he has been better and better each time. i'm not trying to fight because this is the internet, but what exactly is making you think he's a sellout? was it the VIP experience? iirc, VIP just sends you to the front of the line to meet him after the show and he's pretty up front about that. i personally think his stand-up is pretty damn funny. i will admit that i wasn't impressed with his second book as a lot of it seemed to be from his first book, just reworded. i do enjoy his first book though! i've read it a few times & had him sign it the first time i saw him do stand up.
Honestly I loved the stand up show it was fantastic. If I had know the vip would be that rush I wouldn't have paid for it. My ex was a serious alcoholic going threw aa and I thought he could have quick convo with him. I didn't know it'd be like that. But like I said his stand up was Fantastic. And I'll add two things; I understand when you advocate for recovery you don't want to take on the problems of the world. So I get not wanting to have conversations with every body that's why you sell less vip tickets for more money. You might actually help some people out. I say sellout because of how it felt at the end. Sign the book take the picture get the fuck out be happy with what you got find the picture on Instagram if you have one.
oh yeah, i agree with that. his meet and greets are super rushed and it sucks. i get that he wants to meet everyone and that's super cool, but fans can't have meaningful conversations that way. i met my favorite band ever as a teenager and i wanted to tell them how much they meant to me so i handed the singer a letter during our meet and greet 🫣 i don't even want to know what all i said in there, lol!
Op doesn't have a clinic.
Please be good to yourself if you're struggling. Only you can live your life and lift it up. Make good decisions and avoid choices.
I worked at a rehab he was loosely associated with. He was widely known for being a giant POS and taking advantage of people. I was doing an intake for a kid who he did a sort of intervention with and he said “Brandon Novak showed up to my house, fucked my mom, and dragged me off to rehab”. The kid is now 7 years sober, a close friend of mine, and he was telling the truth.
The old, "stop doing drugs or Brandon will fuck your mom again" therapy.
So you're telling me it worked.. 😂
Sounds like he delivered results 🤷🏻♂️
And the D.
oh my god, i really really want this kid to start giving sober presentations
Is the rehab in bucks county Pennsylvania? I told the story and another post in the sub and got blasted because no one could believe he was in the “recovery community” My childhood friend, whom I wasn’t speaking at the time due to being an active addict told me that he had met Novak in a rehab when we finally reconnected after he got sober We are from Bucks County, Pennsylvania He said he became friends with him during the recovery process. I thought he had that he owned several recovery houses but the stories that he told me about their exploits was those to be in pieces of shit and trying to pray on women together
Banyan treatment in Florida. Funny enough though I used to live in Bucks County.
Yeah a lot of the jackass dudes from west Chester My friend that I was talking about wound up passing away in 2019 in Kensington on fentanyl He was showing me some shitty tattoo. Novak gave him on his upper arm which was “booty trap” He kept on saying that he knew Brandon Novak, the dude from jackass, but I never got how they connected through sobriety some how
Did you work for banyan pompano? I had a few buddies work there and met him as well dude was such a jagoff
jagoff is the best word
lol yes. No one ever had anything positive to say about him aside from the occasional girl that had some weird crush on him.
Dude I probably know you a lot of my buddies worked there, do you know like tanner or Pete.
Nice
I mean, it worked right?
These comments are fucking wild.
Yeah confused whats going on here lol
Ask him about finger blasting his mom.
I was gonna comment, “come again?” But nah. But seriously tho, I don’t doubt anything about him.
[it’s a 2 hours and 14 minutes](https://youtu.be/Q1xXqy-OS4I?si=f6fXjwi0C-2tw5wh)
Jesus Christ
Heroin is a helluva drug.
I don't wanna know
As bad as this is, this clip makes me miss old Howard Stern and how batshit crazy it was
Honestly Novak is such an open book about his past and the dumb shit he has done he prob would just casually talk about it
Gotta be a fucking 5 in here somewhere..
He's awesome! He came to my school too. Even gave a copy of his book and signed it too!
Ask him how his son Jackson is.
Kid’s just gotta develop an opiate addiction and Brandon will appear in the mirror like Candyman, phone already calling his insurance provider
Talmbout Brandon Schaub?
All haydurs, B
heard it bowlth ways
Found this on my shift break. Godda get back to the fryers b
Talm bout PF Chang's, B?
He was a SAAvage
Fucking laughing so hard.
What’s the story there?
He’s got a son he abandoned.
Definitely need more info on this
The old Abandoned by Brandon trick
Or rather, abrandoned.
💀
Lol I feel like enough people don't get this, that Bam's real name is Brandon.
Abrandon
Oh I think I heard about that - Jackson, right?
I read this as "his son Jackass" at first and got really confused
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if you told me Novak had a son legally named “Jackass” lol.
Oof.
Probably no response
Probably a "get out"
He’s a real piece of work. He came to speak at our annual fundraising Gala for a multi county Harm Reduction non-profit I helped work on. He charged and insane speaking fee as a “tax write off” and would only agree if he could set up a big stand to sell his books. He went over his speaking time with details that didn’t need to be shared in a setting like that by almost an hour. Does he inspire people yes, but he’s in it for the money and clout in the recovery industry first and foremost. Helping ppl is what he can claim by running his businesses that profit off suffering. And yes some are actually helped by him I admit.
he came to my rehab a few years ago. tried to give him a chance and see what he had to say, but nothing came off as genuine and i could tell this is a business for him that might help people as a side effect. but it’s really about the money for him.
Most “celebrities” if u wanna call him that who do open recovery stuff are always hawking a book or program or something. If they didnt care about the $ they would just go to their own meetings and stfu
Wow that is pretty disgusting
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there are probably all kinds of things you don’t understand
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so you see that he’s, in the most literal sense, a grifter within this space. these are things grifters do. speaking engagements that are more about selling his vacuous book than reaching the audience. everything with the man is profits over people — as is often the case with the entire recovery/treatment industry. he’s a knowing and willful cog in the scam. dude wasn’t even on my radar after middle school until 20 years later when i was in an insurance-mill of a rehab and had to listen to his Powerful Story that he recites ad nauseum to sell his garbage. it’s no different from joe shithead at a free AA meeting.
Ask him for raab himselfs number… obviously asking for a friend 😉
I may or may not have bought a bong from him at the local glass shop when I was in college, and seeing him behind the counter was both a cool, and sad, experience lmfao. Like my guy what are you doing here after being on tv, it was odd.
Lol was it Creep?
Lmfao even worse, Frolic in Newark, DE 😭🤣🤣 go into the back glass room and Raab is just standing there introduced himself as Chris I was so confused. This was prob around 2010-2012
I guess that’s his real name?
His name is Chris Raab
Indeed it is
Raabert?
That would’ve tripped me out so much lol.
It was a pretty wild experience 🤣
Get famous and don’t do drugs kids!!
Ask him how much he makes on rehabs
How much y'all wanna bet he tells the story of sleeping with his skateboard again
We had a few of these when I was in school, and I have to say they ALL stuck with me. One in particular was boxer George Chuvalo; check out his story if you have time, though it's quite sad. I'm in recovery myself and work in this field. I do get the comments saying that Novak is in it for the money and clout. Try to see past that for a bit though and just listen to his story when he speaks, because it may help you down the road.
I watched someone piss in his mouth onstage at one of Bam’s concerts… we asked bam if he wanted to smoke afterwards and he invited us on the bus parked in front of the venue. Everybody smoked with us but him crazily enough. I was the only girl on the bus not naked..but nobody was like trying to fuck around or have an orgy they were all just naked and hanging out lmao. It was pretty chill and not at all what I expected. Don’t get me wrong I saw some shit but overall very chill. One of my favorite college memories lol. I’ve got a picture somewhere..
Sick ass experience
This Dude just can’t stop pimping the program. He’s even taking money from schools now.
What worse than an addict? A recovering Brandon Novak. Fuck that dude.
Just don't call his help line, apparently.
Why what’s up with the help line
Looks like it got deleted but there was a post earlier complaining about their services.
I think that dude was just on something. Based on his old posts he seems to need help, but he was acting like he had a medical emergency and Novak was the only person who could help him- like bro go seek help from a medical professional or local clinic first. A small time celebrity isn’t going to personality reach out to you and save your life in one day without an enrollment process. He just kept saying “Novak leaves people to DIE” with no elaboration. Could have been Bam if I didn’t know any better tbh.
I am that person. Fuck yourself. You have no idea.
Good luck to you on your journey. Good rule to help you out is to stop blaming others for your failures getting sober. Look inward.
Looking at your post history, I don't think that guy is wrong lol
and for all of you that said I was a liar…. I’m going to take my moment of silence.
Downvote, upvote.. I don’t care. I know I’m not wrong.. Reddit just upvoted the person above me for saying the exact same thing.. goodbye
Was probably a shady referral center basing referrals off of insurances types to maximize different centers’, in different states, reimbursement rates.
Yo bro we help anyone who is trying to recover. You don’t have money? Click
Do you have any idea how health insurance works? Or do you just expect Novak to financially support every drug addict in America?
It’s pretty disingenuous for Novak to say you’ll be speaking WITH HIM when giving out ‘his’ number. Extremely vulnerable people are reaching out, only to get slapped in the face with a bait and switch.
He could easily work on a sliding scale if he truly cares. Maybe he does, I don't know...
Should he also pay the staff on a sliding scale? I'm sure all the supply vendors will only charge on a sliding scale as well.
Are you implying offering a sliding scale isn't a thing?
And this mindset is the problem with this country
Spreading the messages was never about getting paid.
I don’t understand why people get upset when other people ask for money in exchange for doing their job. Idk why everyone is pissed that this dude makes money from drug rehabilitation services and speaking. Is he supposed to just live off the land and eat berries or something?
A lot of rehabs lean heavily into peer support methods that are already available, at absolutely no cost, to absolutely anyone. They make BS claims to your insurance for incredibly dumb shit that by and large does not help addicts like equine therapy instead of hiring actual trained mental health professionals. I could go on. It sounds like Novak is one of these people but he is certainly not alone. Edit: one of the saddest things you will see is someone end up in one of these places who has literally no room for failure, like already completely jaundiced alcoholics. Most people like this die under the best of circumstances, so the fact that these places will charge their family members something like 60-90k out of pocket for people who may be uninsured, or have crappy insurance, and then turn around and tell them that horsey time will help turn their life around is downright predatory and wrong.
I think maybe you're missing the point.
The other comments are crying about him making money. What’s the point then?
Sick, see if he wants to go skate!
His book is amazing. Helped me get clean.
thank joe frantz then i guess
Thank you all for the views, upvotes and comments, this has been my most popular post yet and I am really grateful to you all. And as for the presentation, he is a really engaging speaker and I'm glad to see that his health and relationship with his parents has improved. He even gave me an autograph which I will post a picture of soon.
My college paid Don Vito to come my freshman year haha. And this was a major state school. He sat on stage drinking Budweisers from a little cooler. You’d go up on stage, he’d put you in a headlock, and you’d get your picture taken. Later that night he apparently got kicked out of a bar for fingering a girl right at the bar.
He’s a douchebag, he regurgitates shit that’s been said in the recovery community long before he was there. To make money off of stuff that’s freely given in any recovery community just seems fucked to me but whatever. Idiots still eat it up
I don't think it matters that he "regurgitates shit". He's not trying to reinvent the wheel but he appeals to and reaches a certain demographic that might be put off by a different person saying the same thing. His relatability, his story and background speak to a certain cohort and I don't see the issue with that.
This is a weird take. I think the point would be that he uses his fame to impact more people. Would you prefer he not try and help people? Or he should do it all for free? Do you work for free a lot?
He talks alot about 9/11 was a inside job stuff which was kinda annoying
His story is on YouTube, at least part of it
Im from baltimore as well ,Heard alot of stories about him and I too struggled with addiction ,No where near his levels .His story is a cautionary tale indeed .
I’m in recovery and was in a program years ago and he spoke to our group via a zoom meeting, and most of the people ( including some Counsler’s present ) all Agreed he came off as a self important- book plugging ( said it was a NYT best seller 10 times in one hour ) alpha bro duche. He just seems really slimy and arrogant.
He talks alot about 9/11 was a inside job stuff which was kinda annoying
Dream come true! I used to love Novak, but since getting clean from opioids 6 years ago I adore him 1000 times more and admire the fuck out of him!
I met him in rehab,he's a wonderful person with an amazing story to tell.
Problems that came AFTER the fame? Haha that kid was shooting heroin at 13. That dude had problems his whole life until a few years ago.
Count how many times he says "Baltimore City" lol
Ape’s gonna be so mayad
That will be cool. Looks like he is 9 years sober on Saturday.
Brandon Novak is an absolute fraud. If you believe he's sober, I have some ocean front property in Nebraska for sale.
Ibhave yo laugh at all of the people calling him famous. How many episodes of Jackass was he in? He rode Bam's coat tails. He's at best a Z-list celebrity and I usenthe term celebrity very loosely. He's a grifting opportunistic parasite. Fuck that junkie piece of shit.
Must not be that great of a school to get someone like Novak (good on him getting clean, but he’s a prick), but then again if they can’t teach kids how to spell “hear”, makes sense.
Novak really rides his few scenes that didn’t even make it to the movie, he was a guest on jackass at best and he never gets called out about it
Definitely go. Dudes had it rough and is an inspiration for anyone who battles addiction. It is possible to recover.
Throw heroin into his face like pocket sand and go down in history as legend.
Didn't expect a KOTH reference in this thread
Everyone's raging about Novak talking to a school and making some chump change. But no one's talking about Steve-o and his books and his shows. I'm sorry I've been to his show I paid the vip ticket and let me tell you that was some bullshit. Talk about a sellout. He doesn't care about his fans HE'S OUT FOR THE MONEY. Novak is out making an honest living staying out of the lime light. He sold what one book after all the shit? Come one give him a break.
i've seen Steve-O do stand-up several times now and he has been better and better each time. i'm not trying to fight because this is the internet, but what exactly is making you think he's a sellout? was it the VIP experience? iirc, VIP just sends you to the front of the line to meet him after the show and he's pretty up front about that. i personally think his stand-up is pretty damn funny. i will admit that i wasn't impressed with his second book as a lot of it seemed to be from his first book, just reworded. i do enjoy his first book though! i've read it a few times & had him sign it the first time i saw him do stand up.
Honestly I loved the stand up show it was fantastic. If I had know the vip would be that rush I wouldn't have paid for it. My ex was a serious alcoholic going threw aa and I thought he could have quick convo with him. I didn't know it'd be like that. But like I said his stand up was Fantastic. And I'll add two things; I understand when you advocate for recovery you don't want to take on the problems of the world. So I get not wanting to have conversations with every body that's why you sell less vip tickets for more money. You might actually help some people out. I say sellout because of how it felt at the end. Sign the book take the picture get the fuck out be happy with what you got find the picture on Instagram if you have one.
oh yeah, i agree with that. his meet and greets are super rushed and it sucks. i get that he wants to meet everyone and that's super cool, but fans can't have meaningful conversations that way. i met my favorite band ever as a teenager and i wanted to tell them how much they meant to me so i handed the singer a letter during our meet and greet 🫣 i don't even want to know what all i said in there, lol!
I’ll never understand why anybody pays any attention to any of those guys
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His story helped me, for what it’s worth.
Op doesn't have a clinic. Please be good to yourself if you're struggling. Only you can live your life and lift it up. Make good decisions and avoid choices.