Five years since 'Tiger King' and why it is still worth watching

Do you remember watching Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness during the COVID-19 pandemic? The documentary followed the life and career of Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, a former zookeeper and convicted felon.

Exotic was the owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (known as the G.W. Zoo) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, from 1999 to 2018, prior to his conviction. He had a rivalry with Carole Baskin, who was the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida.

Currently, he’s incarcerated in prison for an original 22-year sentence that includes 17 federal charges for animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire against Baskin. Exotic has maintained his innocence in the murder-for-hire plot.

What happened on Tiger King and to Joe Exotic

According to Exotic and his attorney, he has said that he has never seen the documentary on Netflix. The videos were a collection of both his career and his life.

The former zookeeper was legally married twice to two men, Travis Maldonado and Dillon Passage. Originally, Exotic had a wedding that involved a trifecta wedding, marrying both Maldonado and John Finlay. The marriage was not legally recognized by law. Exotic changed his last name from Schriebvogel to Maldonado upon marrying Travis.

Life and times of Joe Exotic

Exotic had a successful run as a zookeeper, where he had a number of animals, including tigers and lions. Former NBA basketball player, Shaquille O’Neal appeared in the documentary but didn’t purchase any tigers from the zookeeper.

He would often showcase the baby tigers to families when they were less than six years old. Videos were collected and composed leading up to creating the documentary.

Rick Kirkham, a former Inside Edition TV anchor, worked with the Tiger King to produce a reality show. After an incident that occurred and clashes between Exotic and Kirkham, the building where Kirkham had worked containing all the film footage had burnt down. The former TV anchor later moved to Norway.

Exotic and Baskin often clashed as rivals, and Baskin disagreed with Exotic’s business ethics, considering it abusive and exploitative of animals at his zoo.

The Tiger King often talked about the mystery disappearance of her former husband, Don Lewis. However, it remains a mystery today about the disappearance of the Baskin’s husband, which includes public opinion having a strong belief that she was involved in Lewis’ disappearance.

Videos in the documentary have included Exotic talking about Lewis’ disappearance and often accusing Baskin of having been involved in the scheme. He was later hit with a trademark lawsuit for the use of the Big Cat Rescue title.

Jeff Lowe came in as an investor for the G.W. Zoo where he had more power over Joe Exotic over control over the park. Because of the legal threats by Baskin, Lowe, though, hit back at her lawyers with intimidation.

Marriages

Exotic has few male partners, including Finlay, after coming out of the closet to his family. He then met Travis Maldonado, where he, Exotic, and Finlay were unofficially married.

With the fall with Finlay, Travis and Joe were later married legally. Finlay ended up in a marriage with a woman and had remained sober since his split from the G.W. Zoo and Exotic. Maldonado committed suicide by accident in the zoo while lying by the pool.

Two months after Travis’ suicide, Exotic later met a younger man named Dillon Passage. After they were married, the Tiger would change his last name to Maldonado-Passage. After being arrested and convicted, Exotic filed for a divorce from his husband. He would later return to his last name, Maldonado.

Aftermath and how’s it going now

With the involvement of James Garretson and Allen Glover, it was claimed that Exotic was involved in a murder-for-hire scheme to kill Carole Baskin. Exotic was later convicted in a federal for murder-for-hire and violation of the Lacey Act involving animal abuse on a 22-year sentence. 

The zookeeper had maintained his innocence about the murder-for-hire scheme. In the offices of John M. Phillips, Glover admitted to the Exotic’s lawyers to perjury in his grand jury testimony about Joe’s conviction.

Glover had said he was supposed to kill Exotic and Baskin under the orders of Jeff Lowe in order to gain control of the G.W. Zoo. Baskin attempted to gain control over Exotic’s Zoo to fulfill the judgment to the infringement lawsuit.

Baskin gained control of the G.W. Zoo after a judge granted access to the zoo. Lowe later fled to Mexico after he was banned from operating a zoo. Exotic’s lawyer and manager, Francisco Hernandez and Eric Love, attempt to lobby President Donald Trump to pardon the Tiger King. The pardon did not happen.

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