Tiger King is an American true crime documentary that went viral when it was released on Netflix in 2020.
Let’s find out more about Tiger King!
- Its full name is Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.
- Tiger King is an American true crime documentary streaming television miniseries about the life of former zookeeper and convicted felon Joe Exotic.
- The first season was released on Netflix on March 20, 2020.
- Its second series was announced in September 2021.
- It will air on November 17.
- The series focuses on the small but deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists such as Carole Baskin, owner of Big Cat Rescue, and collectors such as Exotic, whom Baskin accuses of abusing and exploiting wild animals.
- The first series received positive reviews from critics.
- According to Nielsen ratings, it was watched by 34.3 million people over its first ten days of release.
- It ranked as one of Netflix’s most successful releases to date, partly due to its release amid the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The documentary also inspired several memes online.
- Despite its success and popularity, the series and its filmmakers have received criticism from conservation and animal rights groups for its framing and inaccuracies related to private breeding and wilddlife conservation issues.
- A special aftershow hosted by Joel McHale was released on April 12, 2020.
- McHale interviewed several of its subjects about Exotic and the series itself.
- Joe Exotic is the main focus of the series, with the documentary causing him to receive significant amounts of attention on social media.
- Ironically, despite the series being responsible for his worldwide fame and fanbase, he has not watched the series himself, due to being arrested prior to its release.
- Nevertheless, Netflix interviewed Exotic in jail, asking what he thinks of both the series and his newfound fame.
- Exotic stated that he loved the fame, but wished he could experience it firsthand.
- He also expressed remorse for his actions after being in jail, stating to his fans.
- First, the country songs featured aren’t strictly by Joe Exotic. They are written and performed by musicians Vince Johnson and Danny Clinton — Joe just sang quietly over some of them.
- According to press reports published after the series aired, the country music “performed” by Joe Exotic and excerpted in various episodes–like other aspects of his life–is not entirely what it seems.
- Joe Exotic reportedly commissioned up-and-coming country musicians Danny Clinton and Vince Johnson to produce the music for the stillborn G.W. Zoo reality series, with Joe’s creative contributions reportedly being limited to background vocals and suggesting song topics.
- Joe allegedly did not actually write, play instruments, or sing lead on any of the songs.
- Johnson claims to have been taken aback when Joe produced the music videos and posted them on YouTube, depicting himself as the main performer and taking credit for music he did not write or produce
- On March 25th, 2020 John Finlay posted a photo to his Facebook page which shows him smiling broadly, displaying a perfect set of teeth.
- He captioned the photo, “Yes I have my teeth fixed. The producers of the Netflix series had video and pictures of this, but chose not to show it.”
- John Finlay has stated in multiple interviews that his missing teeth were not the result of his past meth use, as indicated in the series, but were “messed up before that due to genetic reasons.”
- John Finlay, Joe’s husband, was asked by the producers to remove his dental bridge for filming, according to an Us Weekly interview with Doc Antle. “John (Finlay) was forced to take his teeth out for the series.” “He had bridgework done … But the show wanted him portrayed a certain way, so the teeth had to come out. He had a full set of teeth before taping.”
- Ironically, the series had turned the tables on the plot of Joe Exotic mistreating big cats and Carole Baskin wanting to protect them: Joe has become a cult hero for his flamboyant personality, and Carole has become unpopular, making her speak out against the series.
- After the State of Oklahoma lifted COVID-19 related restrictions on nonessential businesses, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park experienced a brief surge in popularity as a result of the documentary series, and was briefly renamed “Tiger King Park” to capitalize on the fame.
- However, in May of 2020, a judge ruled that Joe Exotic’s transfer of park ownership to his mother had been fraudulent, and awarded park ownership to the Baskins, giving Jeff Lowe and his team 120 days to vacate the property. In August, the United States Department of Agriculture suspended Lowe’s exhibitor’s permit due to poor veterinary care and paperwork irregularities discovered during a June inspection, and Lowe shut down the park permanently on August 18 rather than contesting the suspension.
- The Baskins decided to sell the park under the condition that it may never be used as a tourist attraction or roadside zoo ever again. A post-closure visit to the park by the Baskins and documentarian Louis Theroux can be seen in Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic (2021).
- If you Google “Doc Antle”, it says his name is Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle. However, in a scene where they show a paper about him and Joe Exotic, it clearly states his real name is Kevin.
- Before co-directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin started working on the docuseries, Goode had his own animal obsession: turtles.
- In fact, he founded the Turtle Conservancy in 2005.
- Goode opened Area in 1983, a nightclub known for its always-changing theme, which drew in big names like Madonna, Bianca Jagger, and Cher.
- He’s since opened The Bowery Hotel, The Jane Hotel, and Waverly
- When Joe was 19, he became a chief of police in Texas
- Joe bred lots of lion–tiger hybrids. He hoped that it would eventually lead to a re-creation of a prehistoric sabertooth tiger.
- There’s a podcast about Joe Exotic.
- Exotic made his employees sign nondisclosure agreements.
- According to Moor, the agreements were for $1 million, but they weren’t legally valid.
- Joe had previously been married before the wedding we see onscreen.
- One of his ex-husbands, JC Hartpence, served time in prison for molesting a young girl and is currently serving life in prison for murder.
- John Finlay, another one of Joe’s ex-husbands, appears to be engaged to a different woman from the one he left Joe for.
- Joe previously got in trouble with law enforcement for shooting a bunch of emus that escaped while he was attempting to transport them.
- A lot of Joe’s cats were sold to a skeleton museum in Oklahoma after they died.
- Cardi B Tweeted that she was going to start a GoFundMe page to help pay for Exotic’s legal battle and get him out of serving his 22-year prison sentence.
- Rick Kirkham’s Texas home also burned down six months after the TV studio fire.
- Rick was also once a dancer on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand when he was 16.
- Joe would shoot horses donated to him and feed them to the tigers.
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