From Internet star to serious legal trouble: Charles Dion McDowell, aka "Wide Neck," goes from viral video to another jail cell. The man behind the memorable mug shot that inspired a torrent of memes, rap collaborations, and social media clout now faces several felony charges that could briefly and violently halt his already tenuous pop music career.
McDowell was arrested last week in Cherokee County, Georgia, and is held with no bond. Authorities have slapped him with multiple felony counts, including transmission of obscene material without consent, transmission of indecent materials to minors, and harassing phone calls. The allegations behind most social media star's behind-the-scenes actions paint a troubling picture of sending explicit videos of a woman without her knowledge to members of her own family. Disturbingly, those recipients included her 13-year-old son, her 16-year-old daughter, and even her mother. Investigators also said that a third unnamed person received the materials.
The explicit material wasn't a mistake of just one time. Officials said the materials were transmitted multiple times via McDowell's cell phone and laptop. In jail records, he also shows a hold request from Crisp County, Georgia, a probation violation in Escambia County, Florida, and the charges he faces in Cherokee County. Wider Neck is facing an extensive rap sheet; It's not looking good for you.
It isn't his first encounter with the law. McDowell has been arrested 21 times since 2010, also for stalking, drug possession, and other crimes. Yet you flipped your initial mugshot notoriety into a social media bonanza, drawing nearly a million Instagram followers and even kicking off a brief rap career.
Joining forces with another viral figure, "Daddy Long Neck," McDowell sought to convert his internet fame into something more profitable. Their unlikely partnership and peculiar hip-hop songs caught on for a time, carving out a small slice of popular culture for Wide Neck. But now, his legal woes appeared to be eclipsing whatever industry momentum he enjoyed.
It's a cautionary tale of internet virality taken to the extreme. What began as a long shot for fame has devolved into a grim legal reality that could leave McDowell spending a long stretch behind bars. Modeling, selling merchandise, and even acting all followed, and while some internet stars have been able to parlay their moment in the spotlight into full-fledged lucrative careers, there are also cases of others like Wide Neck who become victims of their self-destructive lifestyles. For now, McDowell's future is unknown. The man who used to be known for headline-making Neck is making headlines for all of the wrong reasons.
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