Joe Exotic may have been accused of many things over the last few years and was charged with most of them, but no one would ever say he is shy. Now, the Tiger King reality star has proven his audacity once again by asking his fans to help him pay his nemesis, Carole Baskin, the sum of $500,000. According to TMZ, the incarcerated star has supposedly been begging his fans to help him out and set up a Go Fund Me page to allow fans to also chip into what he calls his “pay that bitch Carole Baskin back fund.”
Joe, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, came to fame when he featured in the hit Netflix series Tiger King, which found its audience during the lockdowns of 2020 and charted the chaotic and unpredictable story of how the former zoo owner spiraled out of control and attempted to hire someone to murder animal activist Carole Baskin before she could have his zoo shut down and his animals taken away. The series proved so popular that it spawned a second season, which continued the story of Exotic and Baskin’s drama.
Joe Exotic Claims To Have Nothing Left When He Leaves Prison
Legal documents acquired by the publication show that Exotic was ordered to pay $10,000 to Baskin from one of the many disputes the pair have had over the Oklahoma-based zoo that used to be the home to the Tiger King’s pets. In all, the imprisoned star claims to owe over $1 million to Baskin from the trademark infringement lawsuit that he lost and made a plea via the Go Fund Me page. It reads:
“I will walk out of prison with my clothes on my back, a $1 million judgment and no home or clothes. My health is deteriorating and prison has not been kind. Simply put, I cannot get a fresh start until I pay @$&#!%! Carole Baskin back.”
Since the star was imprisoned for the attempted murder of Baskin and numerous counts of animal abuse, Exotic is currently awaiting re-sentencing after his 22-year sentence was seen as being too harsh. In November, the 58-year-old revealed that he was battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer and his attorney, John Phillips, confirmed that the star had been transferred to a federal medical center. According to Phillips, Exotic has been getting treatment for “a host of issues” and is “one of the most passionate, full of life, clients I have ever had the pleasure of representing.”
The Tiger King series and its follow-up became huge crowd-pullers for Netflix, with word of mouth spurring on viewing numbers from the original premiere in March 2020. The first series pulled in over 34 million views in its first ten days, making it one of the platform’s most successful launches to date and while this was helped by along by many people being at home with nothing better to do, there is no doubt that the story of Joe Exotic is one that was always destined to become an attention grabber one way or another. A dramatic retelling of the war between Exotic and Baskin is heading to Peacock in the drama series Joe Exotic, starring Kate McKinnon, John Cameron Mitchell and Kyle MacLauchlan.