Netflix
A lot of people around the United States were in desperate need of a distraction from the situation they found themselves confronted with in the middle of March—especially when virtually every sporting event that would’ve served as a much-needed remedy was canceled courtesy of the crisis that ushered in our new way of life—and Netflix was kind enough to come through in the clutch when it unleashed Tiger King on an unsuspecting world.
The true crime series somehow managed to transport viewers into a universe that was more surreal than the reality they’d suddenly found themselves occupying around a week before the documentary hit the platform, which was certainly no small task. It did so with the help of the unbelievably eccentric collection of people at the center of a tale that somehow managed to take a twist even wilder than the one to come before it every single time you told yourself there was no way it could get any stranger than it already was.
It’ll take you a little over five hours to make your way through all seven episodes of Tiger King and it’s virtually impossible to not want to hit the “Keep Playing” button at the conclusion of every single one, so while it may have been an incredibly welcome respite, it was also an all-too-brief one. Thankfully, a saga that was decades in the making has only heated up since the series debuted, and following its release, we’ve been treated to even more of the mayhem and madness promised in its official title.
The internet’s quest to determine whether or not Carole Baskin killed her husband and fed him to tigers has dominated headlines but that’s not the only storyline that’s continue to play out in the news. Given everything we learned about Joe Exotic during the series, there was little reason to doubt we’d heard the last of him and he’s managed to remain in the public eye about as well as anyone serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison can.
The man legally known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage has assembled an incredibly on-brand legal team as he angles for a presidential pardon and pursues a $94 million lawsuit against multiple government agencies. However, that’s not the only court case he’s currently embroiled in, as USA Today reports he’s now set his sights on Jeff Lowe after making a number of claims against his former business partner in a recent court filing.
Lowe had been operating the private zoo Exotic once owned since buying the property in 2016 but closed it last week with Baskin slated to become its newest owner in September. However, he still has some loose ends to deal with—including a case concerning over $50,000 in outstanding taxes the state of Oklahoma says the park never paid that Exotic is now using in an attempt to get the court to hear a variety of claims contained within a recent intervention filing accusing Lowe of a variety of misdeeds.
The most notable accusation concerns defamation claims stemming from a Reddit AMA where Lowe said he discovered a flash drive containing evidence that Exotic and his ex-husband John Finlay had sex with animals at the park in addition to a YouTube interview where he asserted Finlay occasionally donned a cheerleader’s outfit before engaging in those acts. Exotic also says Lowe illegally profited from his Tiger King fame and is seeking at least $75,000 in compensation. However, his partner-turned-foe has responded by accusing him of needlessly inserting himself into a case he claims was basically settled in an attempt to stay in the spotlight.
Tiger King truly is the gift that keeps on giving.