Before He Owned Cats, Joe Was A Police Officer
At a young age, before Joe Schreibvogel became Joe Exotic, the future big cat owner worked in law enforcement. He was living with a girlfriend and worked his way all the way up to Police Chief in Eastvale, Texas.
During this time in his life, Joe began exploring his own interests that weren’t socially accepted then. It was also during this time he crashed his police cruiser and broke his back, leading to him having to use the knee brace and cane seen in the docuseries.
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John Finlay Was Joe’s Third Husband
Early on in Tiger King, the audience is introduced
to John Finlay, one of Joe Exotic’s ex-husbands. Before Joe married
John, though, there were two other men who stole his heart. The first
was Brian Rhyne.
Joe and Brian were married for ten years. The
marriage ended when Rhyne passed away from complications with HIV. Joe
next married J.C. Hartpence, a young Oklahoman who helped Exotic with
his magic act. This marriage didn’t last for long, however, and ended
when the two had competing visions about the direction of the GW Zoo.
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He Made A Sheep Look Like A Tiger For His Magic Act
The only problem, according to Stone, was that the animal would freak out at the sound every time and hide in the corner of the cage. To fix this problem, Joe began spray painting a sheep black and orange and lying to the audience about what kind of creature was revealed.
He’s Worth An Estimated $10-$15 Million
According to New York Magazine, Joe Exotic
inherited a $250,000 trust fund from a wealthy grandfather. He used some
of the money to start a mobile petting zoo that brought in around
$23,000 a week, according to Joe, charging $15 for general admission.
From
there, he got into the big cat breeding business which earned him
plenty of money, and grew his zoo. However, Joe’s legal troubles have
bogged down his net worth including being ordered to pay Big Cat Rescue
$1 million in 2013. According to WikiCelebs, Joe’s net worth is
an estimated $10-$15 million, due to his large social media following
and newfound fame. With so many legal problems on the horizon though,
it’s hard to say what his net worth will be in the coming years.
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The Case Of Carole Baskin’s Missing Former Husband Continues
One of the most gripping elements of Tiger King was
the ongoing mystery of what happened to Carole Baskin’s former husband
Jack “Don” Lewis. Last seen on August 18, 1997, his whereabouts and
disappearance have yet to be solved, but his family isn’t giving up.
His
family, along with Jack Smith, a man who has been trying to solve
Lewis’ disappearance, announced they would be holding a press conference
on August 10, 2020, to report their findings. However, many are
skeptical that Jack Smith of “RipperJack Media” has anything of
substance to report.
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Exotic Didn’t Actually Write His Own Music
One of the most surprising aspects of Tiger King is
that Joe Exotic has two country music albums. Several clips of his
music videos are shown in the docuseries, and the audience is led to
believe that Joe wrote and recorded all the songs himself.
The
truth is that most of Joe’s songs were sourced from Vince Johnson and
Danny Clinton, a country music duo. Joe would then lip-sync the tracks
in his music videos. Joe also once took credit for writing and
performing the Christina Aguilera song “Say Something.”
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After Kirkham Left Joe Behind, His Apartment Burned Down
Another fascinating character in Tiger King is Rick Kirkham. Before meeting Joe, he worked for Inside Edition
and suffered from addiction. He became upset with Exotic while filming
the docuseries after the reptile enclosure burned down. While this is
all shown in the series, what happened next is not.
Kirkham
returned home to Dallas and hoped his life would return to normal. Then
his apartment burned down. Firefighters saved his life and Kirkham
relocated to Norway, where he continues to live today.
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Jeff Lowe Wanted To Sell Carole The Park… Maybe
The businessman involved both Jeff Lowe and Allen Glover with the FBI, while at the same time brokering another deal. Knowing that Exotic was likely going to prison, Lowe reportedly offered Garretson $100,000 to make a deal with Carole Baskin to sell her the GW Zoo.
Joe Planned To Breed A Sabre-Tooth Tiger
After seeing hybrid big cats at another park, Joe Exotic
became fascinated by the idea himself. At the GW Zoo, he successfully
bred a liger (a cross between a lion and tiger), which he then mated
with a lion to create a liliger.
These simple hybrids weren’t
enough for, Joe though. According to reports, Joe believed that by
breeding hybrids, he could eventually breed a sabre-tooth tiger. While
this is obviously impossible, the eccentric man was steadfast in his
belief.
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Joe Ran For President In 2016
One year after legally changing his name from Joe
Schreibvogel to Joe Maldonado, the tiger king announced his third-party
candidacy for President of the United States. He said, “What’s my
chances of winning? Who knows, you know? Pretty slim. But I’m going to
give them a run for their money.”
During his campaign, he refused
to wear a suit or cut his hair, preferring to allow potential voters to
see the real Joe. In Colorado, he received close to 1,000 votes, many of
which came from the write-in option.
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A Gubernatorial Run Came In 2018
Like with his presidential campaign, Exotic’s bid for governor fell short, but the increased media exposure was good for business. The campaign was rewarding but exhausting for its manager, who doesn’t plan to watch Tiger King any time soon. Today, Dial has distanced himself from the world of Joe Exotic and is engaged to be married.
John Finlay Fixed His Teeth
Watching John Finlay being interviewed during Tiger King,
it’s hard not to focus on his teeth. More correctly, it’s hard not to
focus on his lack of teeth. For those curious, Finlay has a perfectly
healthy smile today, the documentary just never showed it.
After Tiger King
premiered, Finlay released a photo of himself online with healthy
teeth. He also revealed that he had his teeth fixed while filming the
documentary, but footage of those interviews was not used.
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Jeff Lowe Is Happy With The Docuseries
When Jeff Lowe agreed to participate in Tiger King,
he was worried about how Netflix would portray him. After watching it
with his fiancee, Lowe posted on Facebook that overall he was happy with
the finished product:
“A little sensationalism here and there, but for the most part it was a decent Readers Digest version…
When i agreed to be involved in this docuseries I was slightly
concerned that by Son’s Of Anarchy lifestyle might be too much for the
average person to handle. I make no apologies for living my life to the
fullest extent. But those concerns completely vanished when I saw the
segment on Doc Antle, Joe’s Messiah and role model.”.
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Shaquille O’Neal Used To Donate To The GW Zoo
After learning that he was briefly involved in Tiger King,
NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal came clean about his involvement in the park,
“We’re there and I dropped some donations for the tigers’ foods and all
that. We take pictures with tigers. We went back a couple times.”
Shaq
said once he learned about everything Joe was involved with he stopped
going. The big man also admitted to buying two white tigers that almost
killed him. He did not specify where he bought the tigers from.
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Carole Baskin Reached Out To Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian took to Twitter after watching Tiger King to ask her followers if they believed Baskin murdered her own husband (a theory brought up in the show). After seeing the tweet, Baskin reached out to Kardashian, “We would love for you to visit Big Cat Rescue once Covid-19 is over to meet Carole, tour our GFAS-accredited sanctuary for big cats, and learn about how you can help.”
Joe Was Given 22 Years Behind Bars
Two months before Tiger King debuted on Netflix,
the trial of Joe Exotic ended. The disgraced zoo owner was facing
charges of murder for hire and animal endangerment. He was found guilty
of both and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
When Joe is released,
he was will be 78 years old, although he is fighting to be released
early. Exotic has even gone as far as to ask for a presidential pardon.
None has been awarded yet.
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Exotic Opened The Park After A Family Tragedy
It was in 2000 that Exotic obtained his first tiger and his love affair with the big animals began. Within a few short years, the GW Zoo became home to many more tigers thanks to Joe’s breeding program.
Joe Met Dillon Passage Via Text Message
Wedding vows between the couple were exchanged in 2017, shortly after another of Joe’s husbands passed away. Before vows were exchanged, Exotic said in an interview that Dillon was not jealous of Joe’s remaining love for his recently departed husband and, “I could not ask for a more amazing person to land in my life.”
His Family Doesn’t Remember His Big Accident
You might remember that Joe broke his back while getting
into a car accident during his time working for law enforcement. The odd
thing is, even though he has provided various publications with
pictures of the wreck, no one close to him seems to remember it.
When New York Magazine poked
around the story, his family, friends, and townspeople all had the same
answer. Joe continues to tell the story today, saying the moment the
accident happened he was reborn.
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The Park Was Funded By His Brother’s Death
Joe Exotic’s brother, Garold, passed away in a car
accident that resulted in a financial settlement for the family.
Garold’s parents made the quick decision that they didn’t want the
money, leaving the decision of what to do with it up to Joe and Garold’s
wife.
Garold’s wife wanted to use the money to build a soccer
field, but Joe had other plans. He used his charm and quick wits to
convince the family that they should build and open the GW Zoo because
Garold had always wanted to go to Africa.
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Kate McKinnon Is Playing Carole In An Upcoming Show
With the story of Joe Exotic becoming such a quick sensation, Hollywood is hungry for more. Even before Tiger King debuted, a series about Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin was in development. It would be based on Joe’s self-titled podcast.
McKinnon
prides herself as being a bit of a cat lady, and even owns clothes with
pockets specially designed to carry her housecats around with her. She
does not own any big cats.
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Joe Is Suing Everyone For $94 Million
Exotic claims in the suit that the zoo was used “as a front for credit card fraud, ID theft, mail fraud, illegal [substances]… and selling tiger parts.” His lawyers also included 14 other charges that attempt to prove he was set up.
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