Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
You might not recognize the name Jeremy Meeks right away, but many people remember his face after he became known online as the ‘world’s hottest felon’.
While his criminal record isn’t something to celebrate, Meeks drew international attention after he was charged in June 2014 with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
When he was arrested, the Stockton Police Department shared his mugshot online, and the photo rapidly spread as people fixated on his appearance.
More than a decade on, Meeks says his life looks very different. In a recent interview, he spoke about battling addiction and the “survivor’s guilt” he experienced after getting clean.
Meeks has previously described a childhood marked by drugs and violence, and said on the What’s Your Water podcast in 2021 that both of his parents were heroin addicts.
His run-ins with the law began years earlier. In 2002, he was charged with grand theft and served two years in prison. He was later convicted of identity theft in 2005 and forgery in 2007, among other offences.
After the 2014 arrest, Meeks was convicted of felony firearm possession and sentenced to 27 months. Speaking with Matthew Cox on the Inside True Crime podcast, he looked back on the sudden attention and said that, while incarcerated, he started receiving “300 letters a day” — with some including explicit photos and cash.
“There was many monikers,”
Once released, he stepped into modelling and other work that took him around the world. But he said that, behind the scenes, he was still using drugs — all while preparing to become a father for the second time.
“The mother of my second child was struggling with me struggling,” he said.
“She took a video of me sleeping, my breathing was very delayed and my lips were turning blue and I was pretty much overdosing in my sleep. “
“She was four months pregnant. So she’s like, ‘Dude, if something happens, like there’s nothing I can do’, and so 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 that surviving that night changed everything — but also left him wrestling with guilt about others around him who were still trapped in addiction.
“A lot of my homies and people that I knew, some of their addiction grew just because of the resources that I had, to then buy. And it’s just like ‘if I’m doing it,
you’re doing it’. And now everyone’s getting higher and everyone’s getting higher and more drugs are being done. 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 and still, you know, in the thick of it…”
Although he said he eventually accepted he couldn’t rescue everyone, he explained that he tried to focus on what he believes is a bigger plan.
“I know that God’s going to have me exactly where I need to be in front of exactly who I need to talk to,” he said.
“I just jump in a river now and I flow with it instead of trying
to swim upstream, which, that’s what I tried to do for so many years.”
Meeks continues to work in fashion. He launched a second collection for Canon Mitchell in January 2024 and has also appeared in several films.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.