Joe Exotic became an overnight sensation with Netflix's runaway hit documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, but he hasn't really been able to enjoy the new-found fame. He's in prison.
The documentary series featured many owners of exotic animals and big cats, like Joe Exotic, and tracked his growing feud with Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida. The series culminated in chronicling Joe Exotic's arrest and sentencing to prison for an attempted murder-for-hire plot with Baskin as the target. Baskin has since spoken out against the documentary and refuted some aspects of it. Meanwhile, Joe Exotic is said to be enjoying the fame.
In a new interview with Netflix, conducted with Joe Exotic imprisoned and after the release of Tiger King, the former private zoo owner and presidential candidate said he'd like to enjoy his newfound fame.
"You know it would be nice if I could actually see me being famous out there, but I've seen these same four walls for a year and a half now," he said in a video posted to Twitter.
When asked about what he wants fans to know now, he expressed remorse for some of his behavior.
"Go it in a cage with your animals for a week. I mean, when I left the zoo and I sent my chimpanzees to the sanctuary in Florida and imagined what my chimpanzees went through for 18 years, I—I'm ashamed of myself," he said.
That scene was in the documentary series.
Tiger King also featured Joe marry three different men, the most recent Dillon Passage. They were only married for eight months before his arrest, and in those eight months. "I can't thank my husband enough for standing beside me," he said.
And now Joe Exotic is ready to move on—or so he says.
"I'm done with the Carole Baskin saga. It's now time to turn the tables and Joe get out of jail a free man and exonerated from all these charges," he said.
See the interview above.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is now streaming on Netflix.