Now, here comes another, scripted retelling of the whole saga: Joe vs. Carole, a Peacock limited series premiering Thursday, March 3, in which SNL star Kate McKinnon portrays Baskin and Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell plays Joe Exotic. But what have Joe, Baskin and the rest of the zoo crew been up to since Tiger King’s first season? Some are in jail, some have been arrested, some have sadly passed on, and some are allegedly still getting away with murder. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up! Here’s where Joe Exotic and the cast of TigerKing are now.
Is Joe Exotic still alive?
Yes, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, otherwise known as Joe Exotic, is still alive. In fact, his 59th birthday arrives on March 5, 2022, just two days after the Joe vs. Carole premiere. (He’s asking for donations for his birthday—ostensibly not for himself, but to help out a friend in need.) The former zoo owner, who captivated viewers with his complex mix of charm, eccentricity and malice, also hasn’t been in the best of health. “It is with a sad face that I have to tell you that the doctors called me in today to break the news that my prostate biopsy came back with an aggressive cancer,” he tweeted in November 2021, posting a picture of a handwritten letter revealing his health status. “I am still waiting on the results from other tests as well. Right now I don’t want anyone’s pity.” Joe’s lawyer, John M. Phillips, revealed a bit more about his condition. “The PSA test is a blood test used primarily to screen for prostate cancer. It was high,” Phillips told CNN. “He finally obtained biopsies. They revealed cancer.”
Is Joe Exotic in jail?
Yes, Joe was convicted over a failed murder-for-hire plot that targeted archenemy Baskin, owner of Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary for tigers and other big cats in Florida. He was also convicted of violating wildlife laws in the operation of his zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park—also called the GW Zoo—in Oklahoma. Joe has maintained his innocence, and also says he isn’t being given proper medical care in prison. “What I need is the world to be my voice to be released,” he wrote in the letter he tweeted in November 2021. “They have the proof I did not do this and there is no reason for the US Attorney to drag this out. So I can go home and get treatment on my own or enjoy what life I have left with my loved ones.”
Was Joe Exotic re-sentenced?
Yes, but his January 2022 re-sentencing didn’t change things much. After he was initially sentenced to 22 years, a court ruled in July 2021 that two of his convictions should have been treated as one, so his sentence should be reduced. A judge then chose to reduce his sentence only by one year, to 21 years. View this post on Instagram
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Was Joe Exotic in Tiger King 2?
Yes, Joe Exotic was in the Netflix sequel—although the new material was just via phone calls from prison. He still had a lot to say about what happened at the zoo and his alleged wrongful imprisonment. As Exotic’s lawyer revealed in a statement about his ongoing legal battle, “People should know what they saw on television isn’t the full truth. It isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. It was snowflakes on the tip of the iceberg, largely manufactured by those who wanted to see Joe Exotic in jail for their own benefit.”
What happened to Joe Exotic’s zoo from Tiger King?
At the end of the first season of Tiger King, Joe Exotic’s business partner turned rival, Jeff Lowe, got control of Exotic’s zoo as he went to prison. But the ownership of the zoo was in legal question, and in June 2020, the courts later awarded the zoo to Baskin. Lowe moved most of the animals to a new location in Oklahoma, and Baskin shut down the original zoo, sending the remaining animals to rescues and sanctuaries. A year later, in June 2021, Baskin sold the property to a local couple—on one condition. “When we sold the property in June, we required that it never be used as a zoo, or for anything related to Tiger King or anything like that," Baskin told Yahoo. Added her husband, Howard Baskin, “If it became an RV park or storage unit, we don’t want it named the Tiger King RV Park. We would like the 20 years of mistreatment of animals there to be forgotten and be history.”
Where is Tiger King’s Carole Baskin now?
Self-proclaimed conservationist Baskin still runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida. She has been outspoken about her disapproval of her portrayal on Tiger King, which included a focus on the disappearance of Baskin’s first husband, Don Lewis, in 1997, and speculation that Baskin had something to do with his death. And from the trailer, it looks as though Tiger King 2 will also devote time to the mystery of what happened to Lewis. Baskin even tried suing Netflix to prevent Tiger King 2 from using previously filmed footage of her, which would have effectively halted the release of Season 2—but a judge denied the emergency request to stop the show’s immediate release. She may have further legal recourse, but it won’t prevent the footage from getting out there. “I mean [Tiger King] was just a reality show dumpster fire,” she told Variety in September 2021. But she’ll still have to watch Season 2, she says. “My phone started ringing off the hook for three months straight, people cursing at me and telling me that they wanted to burn the place to the ground and they wanted to kill me and my family and the cats. So whatever Tiger King 2 does, I’ll have that same reaction from the public that has been misled. I’ll have to spend a lot of time explaining to them how they have been misled, which means I have to watch it.” Baskin is getting to have her say in her own documentary series on Discovery+, Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight, which premiered Nov. 13. The show focuses on the horrors of the exotic animal industry—which is what she thought Tiger King was going to be about when she first got involved. “They’re going to be shocked at the level of abuse and exploitation that is going on behind closed gates,” she told E!, “that has been hidden to the public and the media for decades.”
Where is Tiger King zoo owner Jeff Lowe?
After Lowe was court-ordered to leave the GW Zoo property in June 2020, he took most of the animals and set up the Tiger King Park close by in Oklahoma. But in another crazy twist, that zoo was raided in May 2021 and nearly 70 big cats seized by federal authorities for alleged mistreatment in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Lowe’s attorney, Walter Mosley, told PEOPLE, “Jeff tells me to share with you to watch Tiger King 2 for the real story, not the story made up by a corrupt DOJ.” Lowe’s troubles don’t end there, either. Two weeks after the zoo raid, Lowe and his wife, Lauren, were arrested for DUIs. The previous March, TMZ reported that Lowe suffered a stroke at an Oklahoma casino and had to be airlifted to a hospital—and that he and his wife believe the incident was caused by someone poisoning his drink. In January 2022, TMZ reported that Lowe was moving his zoo to Mexico to avoid further hassling from the feds.
Where is Joe Exotic’s husband Dillon Passage?
In Tiger King, viewers saw the openly gay Joe Exotic with several of his husbands, the most recent of which was the young Dillon Passage. They were married for only nine months before Exotic was arrested, and spent most of their three and a half years of marriage apart. In March 2021, Passage announced they were getting divorced. “To answer the main question the public wants to know, yes, Joe and I are seeking a divorce. This wasn’t an easy decision to make but Joe and I both understand that this situation isn’t fair to either of us. It’s something that neither of us were expecting but we are going to take it day by day,” Passage wrote in an emotional Instagram post. “We are on good terms still and I hope it can stay that way. I will continue to have Joe in my life and do my best to support him while he undergoes further legal battles to better his situation.” A few months later in July 2021, Passage announced on Instagram he was in a new relationship. “Everyone, meet John,” he wrote. “I’ve planned on keeping my relationship private for personal reasons but lately I’ve been having a hard time dealing with things happening in my life and John has been my rock and helping me get through it all. In short, this is an appreciation post for this special special man. Thank you for being you.” Judging by Passage’s Instagram, he was still with John at least as of early 2022. He’s also launched an OnlyFans account.
Where is Tiger King zoo owner Doc Antle?
Another exotic animal collector featured in Tiger King, Doc Antle, is in legal trouble. The owner of Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, Antle was indicted on wildlife trafficking charges in October 2020. According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, a jury trial will begin in July 2022. Antle was also not happy with his portrayal in Tiger King, and says he did not participate in Tiger King 2, although the series will likely use previously filmed footage. “I know a couple of my ex-wives and a couple of my ex-volunteers have been interviewed and I’m sure they have a lot to say,” Antle told the Sun News of the second season. “I think it will be another wild ride of crazy, salacious content that I hope people enjoy and have a great time watching. They just have to hold it in their minds that, of course, Tiger King [2] is not a documentary. It’s tabloid TV.”
What happened to Tiger King zookeeper Erik Cowie?
Sadly, likable zookeeper Erik Cowie, who worked at the GW Zoo, died of acute and chronic alcohol use on Sept. 3, 2021, at the age of 52. He was found dead in his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, after a long battle with alcoholism. He had previously been arrested for DUI in May 2021. Cowie had testified at Joe Exotic’s trial that he witnessed Joe having tigers at the zoo killed. In the 2020 follow-up episode The Tiger King and I, he said, “A lot of times when we put cats down, they used me because just by my appearance or my voice, I could get a cat up the side of a cage, where we can dart it and tranquilize it so they could be put down and stuff. You know, those cats trusted me up until the end, and somehow, sometimes I swear they’re like, ‘Dude, you let me down’ kinda thing. I could see it in their face and their eyes.”
Where is Joe Exotic’s ex-husband John Finlay?
Prior to his marriage to Passage, Joe Exotic was married to John Finlay and Travis Maldonado in a three-way ceremony (which Finlay says was “fake” for the cameras) in 2014. Finlay split from Exotic in 2015; Maldonado died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2017. Finlay, who appeared in the first season of Tiger King mainly shirtless and toothless, was also not completely pleased with how he was portrayed in the show. “I was happy to be a part of the first one. The only issues I had were the fake wedding and the fact they made me look like a drugged-up hillbilly,” he told The US Sunin May 2021. He had been clean for years when he was interviewed for the show, he says; and although he fixed his teeth in 2019, he says the show neglected to show him with his new chompers. Will he appear in Season 2? “Am I going to be a part of the second Tiger King series? You will have to ask them that question,” he said, implying that previously filmed footage may be used. Since the events of Tiger King, Finlay has found new love and gotten married to a woman named Stormey, who he met on a dating app in 2019. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I had no idea what it is like to marry your rock, your soulmate, the person you spend every minute of the day with,” he told The US Sun. “Stormey completes me and we are deeply in love.” Next, Where Is Anna Delvey Now? Find Out the Whereabouts of the ‘Fake Heiress’ Following the Netflix Hit Inventing Anna
