Joe Exotic and Tiger

The Tiger King, also known as Joe Exotic, is asking for help as his lawyer launches a GoFundMe to help Exotic cover the legal fees arising from his current feud with his nemesis Carole Baskin. Exotic’s lawyer also reached out to rapper Cardi B, as she has voiced support for Joe in the past.

The famed zookeeper’s lawyer, John M. Phillips, set up the campaign asking for $500,000 in order to cover for new and old legal fees that have sprung up from his ongoing feud with Baskin. In his pleads for help, Exotic states that he still owes $1,000,000 to Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue due to her trademark infringement lawsuit. Exotic goes on to say “I will walk out of prison with the clothes on my back, a $1 million judgment against me and no home or clothes, […] My health is deteriorating, and I was recently diagnosed with cancer and prison has not been kind.”

On his GoFundMe, Joe Exotic shared the following message:

“Hey, everybody, this is Joe Exotic. I am sitting in prison right now and writing this
through my lawyer John Phillips. For those of you who have seen Tiger King, you know
only part of my story. In 1999, my family opened The Garold Wayne Exotic Animal
Memorial Park in honor of my brother, who was killed in a drunk driving incident. A
year later, I got a call from a game warden asking me if I would take in two abandoned
tigers. They were named Tess and Tickles. We became one of the largest sanctuaries
for exotic animals in the country. Inspired by people in the industry who worked with
these animals to educate, we began to exhibit at local malls and other locations.
Eventually, Carole Baskin started following us, teamed up with P.E.T.A., hired a PR
team, and well, the rest is @$&#!%! history.” – Joe Exotic

On his GoFundMe, Exotic also wrote that he wanted a “Fresh Start”. At the moment, Exotic has raised $2,986 of his $500,000 goal. On his GoFundMe, Exotic explained that he can not have a fresh start until he’s paid off the judgment against him.

Why is Exotic’s lawyer reaching out to Cardi B?

Following the release of the Netflix series, back in March of 2020, multi-platinum selling rapper Cardi B voiced support for Exotic. At one point, the fundraising platform GoFundMe had to issue a statement saying she would not be permitted to host Exotic’s GoFundMe.

 

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