What to Know
More than 10 years after Jeremy Meeks’ mugshot went viral, the man who was once known as the “world’s hottest felon” is speaking out — both about how going viral affected his life and where he’s at today. It’s been a long time since Jeremy first made headlines for that mugshot back in 2014, and now, his world looks a lot different from the one he was living in back then, especially since his release from jail in 2016.
Jeremy’s mugshot changed everything practically overnight.
If you spent any time at all on the internet in 2014, there’s no doubt that Jeremy’s face looks familiar to you. When his mugshot was shared by the Stockton Police Department on Facebook, it was instantly everywhere, earning him many admirers for how handsome he looked in the photo.
While appearing on the Inside True Crime podcast this week, Jeremy said that he was getting 500 letters per day from strangers after going viral, and some of them included nude photos and money.
His fans didn’t stop there, though. Some of them drove from hundreds of miles away to attempt to visit him at the facility, and unfortunately, this did affect his ability to see his family during his stay.
“I’m getting random people visiting me and I’m denying them before I even walk up the stairs into the section and I’m like, ‘I don’t know who that person is!’” he said, adding, “They’re like, ‘Well, I’m still taking your visit. You can deny it, but I’m still going to take your visit for the week.’ So now my family can’t come because I got f—— random people coming to see me, and it was so frustrating.”
Life wasn’t easy for him once he was released from jail.
Having been in trouble with the law before, at the time he went viral, Jeremy was serving a 27 month sentence for being a felon in possession of a fire arm. In 2016, he was released, and thanks to his online fame, he was already set up with a modeling contract, but that doesn’t mean his personal life was easy.
As Jeremy explained on the podcast, he was becoming dependent on substances and ended up “pretty much overdosing” while he was asleep one night. Fortunately, his girlfriend at the time knew how to help.
“Luckily, she made a phone call and got some help and got a doctor in there and it was very expensive, but they got me the treatment that I needed,” he said. “And then next thing you know, I’m clean. 30 grand was dropped on my sobriety. I just felt bad because a lot of the people that I knew were still struggling.”
Now, things look pretty different for Jeremy.
Years later, Jeremy is a model and an actor, and he’s also a father to two sons, Jeremy Jr. and Jayden.
It sounds like Jeremy’s life has improved a lot, but there’s no doubt that it was hard having to refuse visits with his family while also dealing with crazed fans.
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