# Scumbag Steve
**Scumbag Steve** is an advice-animal image macro built on a photograph of Blake Boston, taken around 2006 by his mother and posted to MySpace, that spread widely in early 2011. The image shows a teenager in a puffy coat with a faux-fur collar and a backwards, tilted fitted cap, and it is captioned as an archetype of selfish, inconsiderate behavior: someone who borrows and never returns, takes advantage of relatives, and breaks small social contracts. The photo's transformation into a meme happened without Boston's involvement.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) • [2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject of the photo | Blake Boston (also known as "Weezy B"), identified by commenters in the original Reddit thread[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) |
| Original context | Taken by his mother Susan Boston, posted to MySpace in 2006; also used as the cover of the album *Ma Gangsta* by the rap group Beantown Mafia[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) • [2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) |
| Meme launch | First known image macros reached the Reddit front page on January 21, 2011, receiving 8,607 upvotes; scumbagsteve.com registered January 27, 2011[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) |
| Peak scale (April 2012) | 153,149 submissions on a Meme Generator page; 73,815 on a Quickmeme page; 13,953 likes on a Facebook fan page[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) |
| Caption format | Two-line Impact-font text: a set-up line on top, a punchline at the bottom[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) • [4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme) |
| Boston's response | Released "Scumbag Steve Overture" on May 3, 2012, with weekly "Scumbag Thursdays"; over 1.2 million views and 20,000 likes on the first day[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) |
| Later monetization | Sold the original photo as an NFT in 2021 for 30 Ethereum, roughly $100,000 at the time; WBUR reported that he no longer owned the original image[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) |
## Origin of the photograph
Boston.com reported that the picture was taken when he was 16, standing in a doorway of the family home in Medfield, Massachusetts.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) In Boston's own account, his mother took it while she was taking a photo class, at a time when he, like many teenagers, aspired to be a rapper, and she posted it to his MySpace page.[5](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/) The image also served as the cover of *Ma Gangsta*, the album of the rap group Beantown Mafia.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve)
The distinctive clothing drove much of the image's later recognizability. Boston wore a puffy winter coat with a faux-fur collar and a backwards, tilted New Era Red Sox fitted cap with an "A-Tooth" pattern similar to a [Louis Vuitton](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-vuitton) handbag.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) • [6](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/11/scumbag-steve-taking-donald-trump-here-why/qOpK3JjkFNTQ5ydJ0ZJakO/story.html) Boston later agreed that the picture "reads as scumbaggish," explaining that he thought he was "a baller" at the time.[5](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/)
## Rise as a meme
According to Boston, someone put the photo on 4chan, and from there it went to Reddit, Funnyjunk, and 9gag.[5](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/) Know Your Meme's archival documentation dates the first known image macros to a Reddit thread that reached the front page on January 21, 2011, with 8,607 upvotes before archiving; its retrospective editorial separately records a string of captioned images uploaded to Reddit's /r/funny on January 20, 2011.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) • [4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
Spread was fast. A commenter in the Reddit thread identified the young man as Blake Boston, also known as "Weezy B."[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) The scumbagsteve.com domain was registered on January 27, 2011; BuzzFeed ran a compilation on February 2, 2011, and the [Daily Mail](https://www.edgepedia.org/daily-mail) covered Boston's reaction on February 11, 2011.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) The early captions followed a recognizable template, with examples such as "Asks to borrow a lighter, permanently" and "Has a girlfriend, still hits on yours."[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
## The character and template
Scumbag Steve began as an advice animal, a format pairing pictures of animals or humans with captions that suggest a fixed character archetype.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) The archetype is petty selfishness, with text about "scumbaggy behavior" such as "Grandpa gets surgery/Steal pain meds."[5](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/) Captions follow a standard two-line format: a set-up line at the top of the photo and a wounding punchline at the bottom, with hundreds of thousands of examples on the internet by 2012.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/)
The image proved more portable than the photo itself. The backwards hat alone became a detachable symbol that could be placed on any image to denote shady activity; one iteration stuck it on a map of the United States to criticize Guantanamo.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) The template also spawned derivatives: the first Scumbag Brain macro, posted to Reddit on March 24, 2011, used an image of a human brain with text about frustrating lapses in judgment or memory, and its Quickmeme page had over 400 submissions by August 11, 2011.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve)
## Blake Boston and the aftermath
Boston was identified within days of the Reddit thread.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) He said he never asked for internet fame but decided to "roll with the punches."[7](https://dailydot.com/scumbag-steve-blake-boston-roflcon-interview) In May 2012 he released "Scumbag Steve Overture" on YouTube and announced "Scumbag Thursdays," a weekly song-and-video series; the video drew more than 1.2 million views and 20,000 likes on its first day, and by November 2012 it had passed 2 million views, with Boston working with a manager.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) • [3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) In a 2012 interview with Boston.com he described the experience as bittersweet: he was glad it happened but worried his fictional alter ego could tarnish him forever as his young son grew up.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) By August 2016 he was publicly campaigning against Donald Trump.[6](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/11/scumbag-steve-taking-donald-trump-here-why/qOpK3JjkFNTQ5ydJ0ZJakO/story.html)
The costs were personal as well. WBUR's documentary reporting records that the meme's aftermath became a bargaining chip in a custody battle, a complicating factor in meeting his birth mother, a source of fights with extended family members, a cause of anxiety attacks, and an echo of trauma for Boston.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve)
## By the numbers
The meme's reach at its 2011-2012 peak is documented by dated platform metrics. By April 6, 2012, a Meme Generator page carried 153,149 submissions and a Quickmeme page 73,815, with a Facebook fan page at 13,953 likes.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) The launch thread on Reddit received 8,607 upvotes, and the Overture video passed 1.2 million views on its first day and 2 million by November 2012.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) • [3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) The later monetization figures differ between sources: WBUR reports the 2021 NFT sale of the original MySpace photo at 30 Ethereum, roughly $100,000 at the time, while Know Your Meme's retrospective states the sale netted over $57,000; WBUR reported that Boston no longer owned the original image.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) • [4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
## Comparison with other advice animals
Boston.com places Scumbag Steve alongside Good Guy Greg, described as the antithesis of Scumbag Steve, and Bad Luck Brian in the canon of early-2010s image macros.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) Unlike most other advice-animal memes, Scumbag Steve depicts a living, identifiable person, which is why WBUR's retrospective called it an "OG" meme that remained ubiquitous a decade on.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) Its derivative Scumbag Brain generalized the template's voice of frustration to an anatomical punchline about lapses in judgment or memory.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve)
## Legacy and later developments
The meme turned ten in 2021, when WBUR's Endless Thread devoted a documentary episode to its history and aftermath.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) The crypto-fueled nostalgia boom of the 2020s gave Boston a second act: he launched his own meme coin, $STEVE, and sold a Scumbag Steve NFT. A Know Your Meme retrospective reported that he had worked as a line cook while playing music with the ambition of starting a band.[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
The identifiable income came a decade after the meme went viral, when Boston himself sold the image, and the personal costs documented by WBUR, from family conflict to anxiety attacks, fell on the person depicted.[1](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve) • [4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
## Disputed details
Credible accounts disagree on several specifics. Boston's age when the photo was taken is given as 16 by Boston.com and as 15 by Boston himself in a January 2012 interview.[3](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/) • [8](https://www.strangemusicinc.com/2012/01/tech-n9ne/scumbag-superstar-scumbag-steve-talks-tech-n9ne-strange-music-exclusive/) The first vector of spread is Boston's account, via 4chan, versus Know Your Meme's documentation of the first known macros on Reddit in late January 2011.[5](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/) • [2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) The two Know Your Meme pages also differ by one day on the date the captioned images first appeared on Reddit's /r/funny, January 20 versus January 21, 2011.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve) • [4](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
## References
1. [MEMES, Part 2: Scumbag Steve, Endless Thread (WBUR), October 1, 2021](https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-scumbag-steve)
2. [Scumbag Steve, Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve)
3. [Savoring time as the Internet's favorite punching bag, Boston.com, November 23, 2012](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2012/11/23/savoring-time-as-the-internets-favorite-punching-bag/)
4. [Where Are They Now? Blake Boston ('Scumbag Steve'), Know Your Meme editorial](https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/where-are-they-now-heres-what-blake-boston-better-known-as-scumbag-steve-has-been-up-to-since-he-became-an-infamous-meme)
5. [What Happens When You're Made a Meme, Digiday](https://digiday.com/media/what-happens-when-youre-made-a-meme/)
6. ['Scumbag Steve' is taking on Donald Trump. Here's why., The Boston Globe, August 11, 2016](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/11/scumbag-steve-taking-donald-trump-here-why/qOpK3JjkFNTQ5ydJ0ZJakO/story.html)
7. [Scumbag Steve speaks: "Everybody does pull scumbag moves", The Daily Dot](https://dailydot.com/scumbag-steve-blake-boston-roflcon-interview)
8. [From Scumbag To Superstar, Strange Music, January 2012](https://www.strangemusicinc.com/2012/01/tech-n9ne/scumbag-superstar-scumbag-steve-talks-tech-n9ne-strange-music-exclusive/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Online creators and internet personalities*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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