What The Hot Felon Is Up To Next
Have you seen this man?
In February 2018, Vogue hailed Jeremy Meeks as "fashion's hottest commodity." That's quite the reversal of fortune for a man charged with gun possession and resisting arrest in 2014.
Because we now live in an upside-down world, Meeks unwittingly became an internet sensation when the Stockton Police Department shared his mugshot (pictured) on Facebook. According to The Sun, the now-iconic image captivated carnal imaginations around the world, garnering 75,000 likes, 10,000 shares, and roughly 20,000 mushy comments. People just couldn't resist those criminally icy blues ... not to mention the cheekbones you could use to slice Provolone! It wasn't long before modeling agencies came calling. On the heels of being released from the clink, Meeks reportedly inked a deal with White Cross Management.
As the media worked around the clock drumming up nicknames — The Blue Eyed Bandit! Jail Bae! — Meeks parlayed his unlikely internet fame into a lucrative modeling career. By the time he was released from prison in March 2016, he already had his own manager, who proudly released a statement in those first few weeks of freedom: "We have a lot in store regarding Jeremy's new career. There are a multitude of offers on the table."
That was no party line. From dating heiresses to working with Tommy Hilfiger, Meeks is doing everything in his power to ensure his fifteen minutes of fame lasts a lifetime.
He walked the walk for Tommy Hilfiger
A year after making his New York Fashion Week debut for Philipp Plein, Meeks demonstrated his staying power by surprising everyone with a special appearance at the Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2018 show. There he went, sauntering down the runway in a stripey baseball cap, sporty jacket, shorts, and hoodie, inspiring Vogue to gush effusively that Meek's preternaturally handsome face had been concealed by Hilfiger's baggy outfitting. The magazine airily wondered when Meeks would give our lives meaning by finally appearing in an underwear campaign.
And the Hilfiger cameo was hardly Meeks' most glamorous turn since he strutted away from his prolific criminal past. Since his release from prison, Meeks has landed a way-glam Carolina Lemke sunglasses campaign. In April 2018, he was photographed by legendary photographer Steven Klein for luxe UK publication Man About Town. He drove tabloids wild shooting an unusually tarty fashion campaign with model Olga Buzova. He's everywhere, and he's staring right at you, and that's totally okay.
You must be wondering how he's adjusting to his new life. Meeks has good news for you. Talking to Male Model Scene, the reportedly still-active Northside Gangster Crips member said: "To go from my upbringing and my world to this new career I felt a lot of pressure to not fail, for myself, for my kids, and for everyone else who looks up to me."
Freeze! Meeks banned from entering the UK for sordid past
That whole "crime doesn't pay" spiel doesn't quite hold water these days. Meeks has spent the better part of his life in jail, previously serving a nine-year sentence in 2002 for felony grand theft, a pesky fact often lost in the shuffle. According to TMZ, his rap sheet includes corporal injury to a child (he reportedly beat up a 16-year-old back in the day), resisting arrest, and attempting to steal pellets from a sporting good store ... a stunt that got him pepper-sprayed by a security guard after shouting, "I'll f**k you up!"
That sordid past sometimes catches up with him in the most unlikely of places. While he might be considered the "hottest criminal in the world," that doesn't mean he's necessarily welcome across the pond. In April 2017, after a grueling flight, Meeks was detained at London's Heathrow Airport and denied entrance into the country. According to the BBC, border control officials can bar passengers from entering the UK if they've been in jail for any period of time between 12 months and 4 years.
Meeks' manager, Jim Jordan, told the Daily Mail, "We went into the UK and we went through immigration and they detained Jeremy. He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. ... He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane." As a result, Meeks missed the launch party celebrating his cover photo shoot for Man About Town.
Acclaimed photographer Steven Klein must've been gutted.
He's working out his divorce and paying child support
For Jeremy Meeks, life isn't all frilly Issey Miyake topcoats and von Drenik scarves — at least not all the time. There's still darkness there, too. For example, he's currently embroiled in a decidedly-not-cute divorce with his estranged wife, Melissa, who doesn't exactly shy away from the spotlight, either.
TMZ reported that Meeks agreed to pony up $1,000 a month for child support in late 2017. "We are pleased that we were able to get Melissa child support in an amount 25 percent above legal guidelines," Lisa Bloom, Melissa Meeks' attorney, told the tabloid.
As part of their agreement, Meeks won't have to pay spousal support, which he's been reportedly loathe to do (More on that in a Hot Felon second.) Meeks appears extremely eager to put this chapter behind him — including his wife of eight years (despite the fact that she dutifully waited for him to be released from prison.) Meeks has moved on romantically — and he might be conspiring to move up romantically, too: He's now very much in love with Topshop heiress Chloe Green.
So now Melissa Meeks' boo has officially become her boo-hoo. She told This Morning the whole ordeal has been "very heartbreaking" for her. "It's very hard for me when I think about what's happened because, honestly ... I wish I still had my husband to go home to."
Stop... in the name of love!
By the time you're on a $130-million yacht meeting your S.O.'s parents, your relationship has officially graduated to the next level. That old maxim certainly holds true for Meeks. In September 2017, the Daily Mail revealed he'd been spotted in Monaco meeting Tina Green, Chloe Green's well-to-do mother. Afterwards, the couple was spied lingering around the Monte-Carlo Gala, a glitzy event commemorating Leonardo DiCaprio's environmentalist work.
"I've never been happier in my life than right now," Meeks told the Mirror. "We've found love, we're in love, and we are very happy." To clear up any confusion, Meeks wants everyone to know he's not some garden-variety opportunist using Chloe for her money: "I love Chloe for her, and if she didn't have a dollar, I wouldn't give a sh*t because we're so happy." (Just ... chills.)
But Hot Felon isn't the only one smearing Beluga on everything and chortling into flutes of champagne. Two can play at that game. In no way trying to outdo her estranged husband, Melissa Meeks went ahead and reportedly started dating her own heir to a vast fortune: Donald "DJ" Friese, who's all set to inherit a meaty chunk of his billionaire father's hallucinatory wealth. "She felt really betrayed when Jeremy left her," a seemingly all-seeing source told the Sun. "Now she's moving on and has found her own billionaire to have some fun with."
Beats a tub of Häagen-Dazs. Let's all start dating wealthy heirs now.
Chloe Green's parents really, REALLY approve of him
As a general rule, flying someone to an exclusive ski resort via helicopter is a sign of camaraderie and good will. According to the Daily Mail, that's exactly how Chloe Green's obscenely rich parents chose to celebrate Jeremy Meeks' 34th birthday — with a trip to the snow-tipped peaks at Courchevel in France. Clearly, the Greens don't seem overly concerned that Meeks was arrested for suspected identity theft in 2005, according to ABC News. That is all in the past — he is a handsome male model now.
According to the Daily Mail, Green's parents happily spoiled the birthday boy with frequent visits to Nammos, the sort of eatery where a bottle of Dom Perignon costs approximately $13,907. A secret source told the paper that the whole Meeks/Green clan feasted greedily on a beguilingly expensive birthday lunch at another upscale eatery, Le Cap Horn. Meeks reportedly gorged on an entire lamb, just to be that way. Last but not least, everyone went to town on a cake that, naturally, had Meeks' name written out in chocolate. Whoever this source is, they spared no detail when tattling to the tabloid, noting that the revelers used "sparklers for candles" and everyone "took part in a vigorous rendition of Happy Birthday."
He's a new man, a new dad, and maybe soon, a new husband
Ever since July 2018, when Chloe Green started sporting a rock that could inspire any number of felonious heists, rumors went wild that the wealthy heiress and the former bad boy were getting hitched. Despite their frequent and public boasts of affection for one another, and the fact that they welcomed a son, Jayden Meeks-Green, into the world in May 2018, the two have played the engagement rumors unusually close to the chest. In fact, while speaking with DailyMailTV in January 2019, Meeks would only say, "In the future," when asked about the couple's plan to marry.
However, the once-deplorable dreamboat let the cat out of the bag in his petition for an early release from probation. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Meeks told the judge in his case that he is "happily engaged to Chloe Green, and we plan to be married shortly," and that his probation has affected their relationship, as Green primarily resides in Monaco. He also stated that when his modeling career eventually gets whacked, he has a standing offer by the Green family for employment in their international retail empire. Fortunately for the scandalous stunner, the judge was feeling sympathetic (or perhaps just hypnotized by those baby blues), and granted Meeks his early release.
So, as of this writing, the Hot Felon has a new baby, a closed criminal record, and a possible wedding on the horizon. Would a toast with some toilet hooch be inappropriate?
Dark: How Melissa learned of her husband's affair
Jeremy Meeks' estranged wife, Melissa, apparently thought their relationship was in an adjustment period when her husband began traveling all the time to fulfill his modeling duties. Though well aware that people in "long-term relations ... go through ups and downs," Melissa told This Morning she was confident they'd begun "a new chapter in our life that we had to work through."
One morning, Melissa says she woke up to discover that a picture of Jeremy and Chloe Green was splashed all over the papers. "The first I learned of [the affair] was when I woke up and checked my phone," she told the Daily Mail in 2017. "Some random person I don't know sent a direct message with the photograph of my husband kissing that woman. I went into shock. I felt nauseated. It was like a bomb had gone off and my whole world had been blown apart. I'd never heard of Chloe Green. I thought Jeremy was working."
Well, in many regards, he was.
Why Jeremy Meeks doesn't want to give his wife a penny
By any standard, the divorce between Jeremy and Melissa Meeks has proven to be a drawn-out, particularly messy affair.
According to TMZ, court documents indicate Jeremy doesn't want to give a dime to Melissa, particularly after she embarked on a heavily publicized "revenge makeover" journey that involved bleaching her hair and having extensive work done. The court documents argue that Meeks "sets a good example for his son, while [Melissa] gives interviews to the media and engages in 'televised reconstructive surgeries' of her nose, bust, and vagina,'" the tab reported.
That's a rather hypocritical claim from a man who was photographed canoodling the previous month with his new girlfriend on a boat in St. Barts.
Melissa reacted with outrage and disgust. "Jeremy struts around on a catwalk in his underwear and that's okay for our son to see, but my attempts to help shape my public image are wrong? I would not even have a public image if not for Jeremy's tabloid adventures," she told TMZ "...I am shocked that Jeremy and his attorney attempt to slut shame me as they do."
That same month, Melissa made quite the accusation on Instagram: "My ex has already been unfaithful in his new relationship. ... I'd rather be alone and happy with self respect than to be played."
Jeremy Meeks loves lavishing his 10-year-old son with gifts
After returning from his opulent birthday extravaganza in Paris, Jeremy Meeks parted ways with the effusive Green clan to keep it real and fly to Calabasas, Calif. to pay his 8-year-old son, Jeremy Jr., a visit. The Daily Mail reported on Meeks' every move, enviably dissecting his "trademark off-duty style" (tracksuit, gold chains) as the two Jeremys visited The Commons to enjoy lunch and celebrate Jeremy Jr.'s birthday.
Photos posted to Instagram (which have since been removed) capture the birthday boy doubled over in excitement as he rips into piles of presents, including (but not limited to) a PlayStation 4, Star Wars and Batman toys, and a toy gun or three.
It appears Jeremy Jr. can look forward to plenty of visits like these: In March 2018, a child support deal was finalized between Jeremy and Melissa. According to TMZ, the child would be in his father's custody 30 percent of the time. "The parties have worked together to come up with a reasonable child custody and visitation schedule, as parents should," said Melissa's lawyer.
That's all sounds perfectly mature ... yet our gut tells us the saga between these exes is far from over.
He's planning some home invasions
First things first, Jeremy Meeks no longer wants to be called Hot Felon. Even though the nickname became the kind of branding dream ad agencies would — *ahem* — kill for, Meeks isn't keen on carrying his criminal association into eternity. Speaking with Gulf News in February 2019, the ravishing rogue said, "I am not ashamed, because my past was a part of my journey, but [I'm] certainly not proud of that label. Labels in general imply that people cannot change, and I definitely have."
Meeks went on to say that fashion was a natural fit for him, given his "own natural edge," and that the industry has given him a renewed sense of purpose. Moving forward, he plans not only on reach the top levels of the fashion and entertainment worlds and beyond, but also to become a mentor for other troubled "teens around the world."
As for the year 2019, Meeks said, "[The] sky is the limit, I can promise you this. You will see me in your homes whether you like it or not." Whoa, wait— Does he mean ... ? "Turn on your televisions, open your magazines and I will appear," he continued. Phew, okay. Maybe his next endeavor should be a focus on phrasing.
Uh-oh: There's a new Hot Felon in town
Someone better watch his distractingly well-proportioned back.
If Mekhi Alante Lucky has his way, Jeremy Meeks will be yesterday's bad news. According to The Sun, this young man has already been nicknamed "Prison Bae" and plans on being "even BIGGER than Jeremy Meeks."
"I don't want to follow in Jeremy Meeks footsteps," the 20-year-old told the tabloid in September 2017. "I don't want to follow in anyone's footsteps. I want to go even further than he is going and be even better — you know: do my own thing. I just want to continue modeling and do as much as I can."
If you hope to break into the competitive world of male modeling, it seems you've got to have a killer mugshot — and Alante's does not disappoint. Those mismatched eyes — one brown, one arctic blue. Those cheekbones — sharper than switchblades! The day he was pulled over for speeding and arrested for driving a stolen vehicle, Lady Luck smiled down on the North Carolina native. Something of a career criminal, Alante was reportedly arrested five times between April and December 2016 for a number of queasy crimes: breaking and entering, violating parole, and — good God — assaulting a woman.
But as far as the fashion world is concerned, that was then; this is wow. The Sun reported that the St. Clare modeling agency has signed Alante, and he's already getting tons of work. "This is a big chance to turn my life around," he told the tab.
Handsome felons of the world, don't ever lose sight of your dreams.