Jeremy Meeks' Mugshot

About

Jeremy Meeks' Mugshot, also known as Prison Bae and Hot Felon, is a police booking photograph of convicted felon Jeremy Meeks who gained much notoriety online after the picture was posted on Facebook in June 2014. The image inspired an advice animal image macro series with captions word playing on his attractiveness, in a similar vein to the advice animal characters Ridiculously Photogenic Guy and Attractive Convict.

Origin

On June 18th, 2014, the Stockton Police Department Facebook^[10] page posted a photograph of Jeremy Meeks, a 30-year-old convicted felon who was arrested on felony weapons charges during a gun raid. In the first 48 hours, the post gained over 56,000 likes and 16,400 comments, with many noting how attractive Meeks’ appeared in the mugshot.

Spread

On the following day, the Fox40 News Facebook^[4] page reposted the photograph, pointing out the overwhelming reaction the photo was receiving. In less than 20 hours, the repost garnered upwards of 301,000 likes and 65,000 comments. Also on June 19th, 2014, Redditor fxwif posted the mugshot with captions quoting notable Facebook comments regarding Meeks' beauty to the /r/funny^[1] subreddit, where it gathered more than 2,500 points and 1,600 comments in the first 24 hours (shown below, left). The same day, Redditor Robby_Digital submitted an image macro using the mugshot titled "Ridiculously Photogenic Thug" to /r/AdviceAnimals,^[2] where it received upwards of 2,300 points and 400 comments in the next 16 hours (shown below, right).

Meanwhile, Twitter users began posting photoshops of Meeks as a model in various fashion advertisements. Hours later, BuzzFeed^[3] highlighted several notable tweet examples.

Crowdfunding Campaign

On June 19th, a fundraising page for her Meeks' legal defense was launched on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe^[6] with a goal of $25,000. In the first five days, over $4,300 in donations were received.

Family's Reaction

The same day, CBS Sacramento reported that Meeks' friends and family were not pleased with the attention the mugshot was getting online and found jokes about the photograph offensive (shown below).

ABC News Interview

On June 20th, ABC News broadcast an interview with Meeks in prison, in which he reacted to his mugshot's Internet fame by saying he is no longer a criminal and does not want to be considered a "kingpin."

"Well I appreciate that but I just want them to know that this is really not me, I'm not some kingpin."

Notable Examples

#FelonCrushFriday

On June 19th, Twitter user @MermaidMillan^[8] posted Meeks' mugshot with the hashtag #FelonCrushFriday (shown below).

Twitter users subsequently began posting tweets with photographs of attractive prisoners accompanied by the hashtag, including the official Twitter feed for the comedy drama web series Orange is the New Black^[9] (shown below, right). According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,^[7] #FelonCrushFriday was tweeted over 121,000 times in the first week.

Stephen Colbert Segment

On June 23rd, The Colbert Report featured a segment which mocked those who wished for Meeks to be freed based on his physical attractiveness (shown below).

Modeling Contract

On June 30th, TMZ^[11] reported that Meeks has been signed by Santa Monica-based model agency Blaze Models for a $30,000 modeling contract, with Gina Rodriguez, a former adult film star and entertainment manager who had previously worked with other micro-celebrities like Nadya Suleman (Octomom), Patricia Krentcil (Tan Mom) and Farrah Abraham (MTV's Teen Mom), representing him as an agent. Throughout the day, the TMZ report quickly made the headlines in the entertainment gossip news circuit.^{[12][13][14][15]} But then on July 1st, the Entertainment Weekly^[16] dismissed Meeks' rumored modeling contract as false, citing Gina Rodriguez's confirmation that his client has not yet signed on with any agency. On July 2nd, The Daily Dot^[17] reported that American adult entertainment studio Dogfart Productions has offered the convicted felon a $100,000 contract to shoot two scenes a week in porn films. According to the press release:

"We think Jeremy's look is absolutely perfect for our network and would love for him to consider our offer in becoming Dogfart's first male contract performer. The women of the world want to see him, shirt off and balls deep and we are ready to make the dreams of hundreds of thousands of horny women and one man looking for a new start come true."

Release from Prison

On March 3rd, Meeks submitted a photo to Instagram^[18] expressing his eagerness to be reunited with loved ones after being released from prison in six days. Within one week, the picture garnered more than 4,200 likes and 640 comments.

On March 9th, BuzzFeed^[19] announced that Meeks had officially been released from the Mendota Federal Correctional Institution, and was "in talks" with various modelling agencies according to his agent Jim Jordan of White Cross Management. Additionally, Jordan revealed that Meeks' prison experience "went relatively well" and that "other prisoners were real nice to him." That day, Meeks posted a photograph to Instagram^[20] in which he is shown posing next to Jordan (shown below). Within 24 hours, the image gained over 10,800 likes and 1,800 comments.

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about Meeks' release from prison, including UpRoxx,^[21] Hollywood Life^[22] and CBS News.^[23]

Modeling Debut

On February 13th, Meeks made his modeling debut at New York Fashion Week walking the runway for Phillipp Plein.^[24] The moment drew media coverage and made Twitter Moments^[25] the following day, as people celebrated Meeks' transition from convict to runway model.

London Deportation

On April 25th, The Daily Mail reported that Meeks had been deported from England eight hours after he arrived in London to do a photoshoot. According to his manager Jim Jordan, Meeks was stripped searched and locked in a small room for hours, and did not have his passport returned to him.

Man About Town Cover

On April 26th, the British magazine Man About Town released an issue with Meeks on the cover, which included an exclusive interview (shown below).

In the interview, Meeks discussed his hardships growing up poor, and revealed that his looks did not solve his problems earlier in life:

"I heard all my life, you’re so handsome, you have the most beautiful eyes, and I heard it a hundred times a day. To where I would not even pay no mind to it. It didn’t fix it then. I still had a father in prison doing life. I still had a heroin-addict mother and me and my brother and sisters struggling through life’s tribulations."

Acting Career

Meeks broke into acting in 2020, landing the leading role of Trey Mass in the 2020 BET+ film Trigger^[26] (trailer shown below).

He has since starred in numerous films, including the Secret Society franchise, and is set to appear in the martial arts movie Rise of the Tarragon (trailer shown below).

Search Interest

On June 20th, 2014, "Jeremy Meeks" was the top trending Google search according to Google Trends.

External References