Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

'Tiger King' Star Joe Exotic Claims New Health Issues In Plea For Biden To Issue Him A Pardon

'Tiger King' Star Joe Exotic Claims New Health Issues In Plea For Biden To Issue Him A Pardon
Netflix, T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images

"Joe Exotic" from the popular Netflix docuseries Tiger King, made a desperate plea for a pardon from President Joe Biden after the Trump Administration failed him.

He was so certain Trump would grant him a pardon his lawyers had a limo waiting and a party planned.


Joe, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, claimed in a lengthy Twitter thread his PSA count results came back high for prostate cancer.

He stated signing the pardon "that Trump left behind" would enable him to get proper care.

The former zoo operator and tiger breeder was sentenced to 22 years in prison after hiring a hitman to murder Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin—a very open critic of his—and for violating federal wildlife laws.

On Friday, Exotic shared his precancer diagnosis from medical records obtained by his lawyer.

"John Phillips has received my medical records from FMC Fort Worth and my PSA count came back very high for prostate cancer."
"The prison has approved testing to verify what stage it is in. My body is tired, I have lost a tremendous amount of weight, the mouth sores are out of control, I throw up more than I eat."

He continued:

"I don't want anyone's pity, what I need is when John Phillips gets the evidence he is working on, I need the world to help him get President Biden, VP Harris and the Attorney General to listen to the evidence and see that it's not just city cops out of control with corruption, but his very own Department of Justice and make this right and sign that pardon that Trump left behind so I can go home and get proper medical care and proper food."


On Saturday, Exotic said he had appointments scheduled to meet with an oncologist and a urologist, in addition to having a colonoscopy and endoscopy.

Taking to Twitter, Exotic claimed his previous request for clemency from Trump was denied because he was "too innocent and too GAY."

He added:

"I only mattered to Don Jr. when he needed to make a comment about me to boost his social media post."
"Boy were we all stupid to believe he actually stood for Equal Justice? His corrupt friends all come first."

Several people close to Exotic apprised sympathetic fans of the popular Netflix show of Exotic's unfavorable behavior not seen in the series.

Rick Kirkham, who was working on his own documentary featuring Exotic until the footage was mysteriously destroyed in a fire, said the famed zookeeper was "pure evil."

Kirkham told The Daily Beast:

"He enjoyed seeing people and animals hurt. He enjoyed it. He got off on it."

Social media users had plenty to say about Exotic's update from prison.

Some showed compassion...


...while some were less than sympathetic.



Baskin publicly slammed Exotic for the treatment of his animals and won a million-dollar civil judgment against him in 2011.

In response to her winning the civil suit, Baskin received numerous threats from Exotic on various social media platforms starting in 2012.

Five years later, he organized a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin that failed and he subsequently offered to pay someone else $10,000 to kill his outspoken critic.

This time, however, the person he contacted was an undercover FBI agent.

When Baskin discovered Trump rejected Exotic's plea for clemency, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm taking a deep breath because I feel such a sense of relief. From the very time that he was sentenced, I have worried about there being a presidential pardon that could undo all of the hard work that went into bringing this person to justice," she told Fox News.

She added at the time of Biden's inauguration:

"When today at noon a new President was sworn in, I felt like I was finally safe from that threat."

More from People

Dave Davies (left) and Moby (right) are at the center of a renewed debate over Lola and its cultural legacy.
John Lamparski/Getty Images; Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Kinks Guitarist Dave Davies Vehemently Shuts Down Moby's Accusations That 'Lola' Is 'Transphobic'

A decades-old rock classic is back under scrutiny, but Dave Davies isn’t letting Moby’s critique of "Lola" go unanswered. In a Guardian “Honest Playlist” Q&A, Moby singled out the track as one he “can no longer listen to,” arguing that its lyrics haven’t aged well.

The “South Side” singer didn’t hold back in his critique:

Keep ReadingShow less
Seven dogs walking home to Changchun, Jilin province, China
@Yoda4ever/X

Corgi Hailed As Canine Hero After Leading Six Other Stolen Dogs 17km Home Across Highways And Fields

Seven dogs who were stolen from their village in Changchun, Jilin, in China, made a brave escape and returned home on a journey that would make Shadow, Sassy, and Chance from Homeward Bound proud.

The seven canine companions are known around their community for wandering around and playing together, until one day the seven of them were stolen and put on a truck, likely to be taken to the black market.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
CNN

Trump Just Compared His Idea To Put ICE Agents In Airports To The Invention Of The Paper Clip—And, What?

Speaking to reporters about whose idea it was to deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports amid a partial government shutdown that has caused exceptionally long delays at TSA lines nationwide, President Donald Trump weirded people out when he compared the decision to the invention of the paper clip.

Samuel B. Fay patented the first bent-wire paper clip in 1867—about 159 years ago. The now-familiar “Gem” paper clip design commonly sold in office supply stores appeared around 1892, roughly 134 years ago, and was never patented in the United States.

Keep ReadingShow less
Madonna (right) and Julia Garner revisit the singer’s iconic Venice gondola scene from "Like a Virgin."
Madonna/YouTube; @madonna/Instagram

Madonna And Julia Garner Just Recreated Her Iconic 'Like A Virgin' Gondola Ride In Venice—And Fans Are Obsessed

Madonna is revisiting one of the most iconic moments of her career, and this time, she’s not doing it alone. While in Venice filming The Studio season two, the pop legend teamed up with Julia Garner to recreate her unforgettable gondola ride from the Like a Virgin music video, instantly sending fans into a frenzy.

The iconic 1984 global hit, directed by Mary Lambert, was partially filmed on location in Venice.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images

A Trump Tweet From 2016 Is Going Viral For Perfectly Predicting What's Happening Right Now

There's always a tweet, and now one of President Donald Trump's old tweets has resurfaced and gone viral as Trump announced he would deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports amid a partial government shutdown that has caused exceptionally long delays at TSA lines nationwide.

ICE agents are still getting paid during the shutdown, unlike TSA agents, who are currently working unpaid and struggling amid the affordability crisis. News outlets have confirmed ICE agents have been deployed in airports that serve Democratic strongholds, particularly John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports (New York), O'Hare International Airport (Chicago), and others.

Keep ReadingShow less