Tiger King Joe Exotic says the ridiculously popular Netflix docuseries ruined his life.
In an exclusive interview with TMZ from the federal prison where he is currently serving his 21-year sentence, Exotic spoke about his “depression”, forgiveness and how the series – which made him a household name – ruined his life.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2019, on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for his conspiracy to kill Carole Baskin.
He was resentenced last year and managed to shave a year off his total sentence.
Although he said he would never forget Baskin’s role in his imprisonment, he has already forgiven her.
“Am I gonna forget? Never. I’ve been through Hell in the last five years,” he said. “But forgive? I have no hard feelings. I never really had any hard feelings against Carole Baskin.”
In fact, the rivalry was a “good business” practice which he said is common in the animal rescue industry, admitting both he and Baskin benefitted from going after each other.
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Exotic also claimed the Netflix docuseries was “pre-set-up” and claimed to have evidence that people were paid “to say what they said” on the show.
“I didn’t do Tiger King; Tiger King ruined my life,” he said. “I was filming a little tiger show in 2016 and 2017 and then Netflix and Eric Goode and all of them turned this into a conspiracy to kill Carole Baskin to make a show.”
In January this year, Baskin made headlines for previous claims that her ex-husband Don Lewis had been found alive.
Exotic’s legal team pushed back at the time and called her statement “unsupported.”
“Tiger King is filled with lies, set up and misdirection,” Attorney John Phillips said. “We await a hearing for Joe’s freedom. The lies are spelled out in his motion for new trial.”
Exotic is currently battling cancer in the Fort Worth Texas prison, which is believed to have spread from his prostate to his bladder.
