'Jailbirds' Megan "Monster" Hawkins Is Back Behind Bars (2024)

If you need a Netflix show to tide you over until Orange Is the New Black comes back on, we think Jailbirds, the reality docuseries that follows real-life female inmates at the Sacramento County Jail, might satisfy a similar craving.

Among the riveting cast of characters who make this reality series so engaging is Monster (real name: Megan Hawkins), who you'll immediately recognize from her face tats and split tongue.

Here's everything you need to know about Megan "Monster" Hawkins.

What did Monster do?

Monster is one of the first inmates we meet on the Netflix docu-series. She's best friends with Najla "Noonie" Jones, 27, and has a funny conversation with Shawn where she turns down "nunus" and "nanas" aka the drugs she's offering.

"Everyone says that I'm a monster, but looks can be deceiving," Monster, 28, says by way of introduction. Monster, who has almost half her body covered in tattoos, explains she has her "good, innocent side and then my monster side."

Monster is from the East Coast. "I grew up over there, I was living in the East Coast, I was happy," she says. "I had my own place, I was running a business on Fifth Avenue," explained Monster, who was a tattoo artist before she ended up behind bars.

On the side, she sold drugs. "I got locked up on the East Coast, I did three months over there and then once I got released, I came over here," she continues, referring to California. "My charges were originally possession of a stolen vehicle (GTA), transportations of narcotics (13 pounds of weed, 65 grams of meth), fictitious checks and catching felonies while out on bail."

Monster was released from jail and spoke about her time on Jailbirds.

"It took me getting locked up to like, look at my life and be like, 'OK you're f--king up, what are you doing that's gotten you here?' 'Cause, what's the real reason I'm in here? You know, How am I treating people?" she admits to a producer in an early one-on-one interview.

And now that she's served her 180 days behind bars, and is out in world, Monster says she's grateful to Jailbirds "for wanting to talk to me because it's helped change my life."

In an interview with CBS, the tatted blonde revealed that the show is as real as can be — with no trick-editing and nothing being played up for the cameras. "It's better than, like, the reality TV of the Kardashians," she joked.

"You're caged like an animal," she explained. "It's really what it is." But Monster understands why audiences are so riveted by life behind bars. "Society likes excitement, the good and the bad," she says.

As for getting the inmates to agree to be featured on the Netflix docuseries, Monster explains it wasn't too hard. Initially, "I was like absolutely not," she recalls, but "they just had to talk to me for like five minutes" and her mind was changed.

"You like my tattoos? You think I'm pretty? OK!" she said.

Catch up with Monster and the other inmates of Sacramento County Jail when you stream Jailbirds on Netflix today.

However, these days, Monster is back behind bars.

Last Friday, Monster was arrested once again after trying to use someone else's ID to open a bank account and being recognized from the Netflix show. She managed to leave the bank before officers arrived, but was quickly apprehended nearby.

When police caught her, they determined that the vehicle she drove to the bank was stolen as well.Upon searching her car, police also found several credit cards belonging to different people, as well as a controlled substance. Uh oh.

Monster opened up to CBS Sacramento about her fears.

"Because I'm on the Netflix documentary, I feel like it's the perfect opportunity for them to like, really slap the book at me," she said. "That's, like, what I'm nervous about."

Catch up with Monster and the other inmates of Sacramento County Jail when you stream Jailbirds on Netflix today.