The new Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness has captured the attention of social media, with one of the documentary series’ subjects, Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, recently taking to Facebook to confirm that he was pursuing a $94 million lawsuit from prison, as well as seeking a presidential pardon from his 22-year sentence. As revealed in the final episode of the series, Exotic was found guilty on 17 counts of animal abuse and two counts of murder-for-hire, having attempted to pay Allen Glover to kill Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue who had spent years trying to shut down Exotic’s private zoo.
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Exotic shared following statement on his Facebook page:
“This lawsuit has been filed in the name of Justice, The Trump Administration must be made aware of the Overreach, perjury, abuse of power and the failure to uphold the Oath of their position which is truth and Justice for all. The Agencies and its counter parts have abused the system for a private agenda. The Director Dan Ashe used his Government position to creat [sic] an illegal monopoly with the AZA and shut down hard working American businesses for self gain. I have been illegally charged with these crimes and the Trump Administration, the United States Department of Interior along witht [sic] the Federal Wildlife service must be held accountable for what they have done to me, my parents and my family, along with my animals. Thank you and please share.”
The Facebook page includes images of documents that exotic is suing for Misleading a Grand Jury, Perjury, Conspiracy To Commit Perjury, False Arrest, False Imprisonment, Malicious Persecution, Loss of Personal Property, Pain and Suffering, Mental Anguish, Selective Enforcement, Misrepresentation of the Endangered Species Act, and Violating Federal Defendants Oath of Office.
The seven-episode Tiger King documentary follows Exotic on his many various endeavors with private zoos in Oklahoma and his run-ins with the law and colleagues in the industry. One of Exotic’s major foils is Baskin, who tried to prevent Exotic from profiting off of breeding big cats, while Exotic alleged that Baskin was similarly chasing fame and fortune with her facility. Exotic even claimed that Baskin was responsible for the disappearance and death of one of her husbands.
While Exotic and Baskin were both willing participants in the program, Baskin has since condemned the series since its release, as it focuses less on conservation efforts for big cats and more on the dramatic scandals that have followed the various personalities involved in the industry.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is streaming now on Netflix.
What do you think of the lawsuit? Let us know in the comments below!
