Scumbag Steve

Borrows your car. Returns it on empty. That was the deal with Scumbag Steve.

On January 18, 2011, an image appeared on Reddit that would define an entire archetype of social parasitism. The photo showed Blake Boston—known to his friends as "Weezy B"—wearing a sideways fitted cap and an expression of casual entitlement. The image was actually from an album cover for his rap group Beantown Mafia, photographed by his own mother. Little did she know she was capturing the face of a thousand freeloaders.

Scumbag Steve became the patron saint of that guy. You know the one. Crashes on your couch for a week, eats your food, uses your Netflix, and somehow makes you feel guilty for asking him to leave. The format was simple: describe an act of social transgression so relatable it hurt. "Asks to borrow $20 / Never pays you back." "Comes to your party / Drinks all your beer and leaves." His moral opposite, Good Guy Greg, emerged months later—a joint-smoking saint to Steve's entitled sinner, each making the other more potent by contrast.

The meme thrived on r/trees, where Scumbag Steve's cannabis-related transgressions—"Takes a hit / Pockets your lighter"—achieved legendary status. He was the embodiment of weed etiquette violations, the guy who always forgot his wallet when it was his turn to match.

Blake Boston, to his credit, embraced the infamy. He gave interviews, appeared on talk shows, and eventually sold the original image as an NFT for $57,000 in 2021. Scumbag Steve got paid. Somehow, that feels appropriate.

The format faded as Advice Animals gave way to newer memes, but the archetype lives on. Somewhere out there, someone is borrowing something they'll never return.

Classic Steve.