Cardi B vows to raise money and free 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic from jail after moved by Netflix series
The Netflix true-crime documentary series ‘Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness’ has received global acclaim and popularity. The series focuses on Joseph Maldonado-Passage, popularly known as Joe Exotic, the owner of a private park full of tigers and other big cats. He is serving a 22-year-sentence for attempting to facilitate the murder of onscreen nemesis Carole Baskin and a slew of animal cruelty charges.
But controversial figures have always found fan followings — just look at Ma Anand Sheela, Indian-born American–Swiss convicted criminal and former spokeswoman of the Rajneesh movement, who turned into a global icon after the Netflix documentary series ‘Wild Wild Country’. Joe’s popularity is similar and one of his fans seems to be the American rapper, songwriter, television personality and actress Cardi B.
Cardi B, Page Six reports, is “team Joe Exotic all the way”. The 27-year-old rap artist, judging by a slew of tweets about Joe Exotic and the documentary series, doesn’t believe he’s been treated fairly. On March 27, Cardi B tweeted about Baskin, “Carol you think you slick bitch,” followed by a series of unamused face emojis.
That was only the beginning. The same day, she asked her followers, “Who you think burn Joe studio?” and then said, “They did Joe so dirty over and over again.”
She again asked: “Who you think is more wrong ? Narcissist joe ? Or Greedy Carol ? And why ?” and finally announced, “Bout to start a gofundme account for Joe . He shall be free.”
It’s unclear if Cardi B’s promise is in any way serious, or if she was just exaggerating her support for Joe Exotic.
The popular, real-life antihero recently filed a $94 million lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Joe is also reportedly seeking a presidential pardon. “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,” he wrote in a post.
According to the documentary series, here's a brief summary of the feud between Joe Exotic and Baskin. Animal rights activist Carole Baskin, owner of a Florida sanctuary called Big Cat Rescue, marshaled an army of online supporters to attempt to put Joe out of business. Joe, in turn, began to harass Baskin in turn, posting videos to social media in which he accused her of murdering her husband. In the videos, he also performed acts of violence on effigies of Baskin. He even changed his company's name to Big Cat Rescue Entertainment.
Baskin sued him for copyright infringement in 2011 and was awarded $1 million, after which, Joe declared bankruptcy. He eventually signed ownership of the zoo over to a man named Jeff Lowe, who also features in the documentary series. In 2017, Joe’s husband Travis Maldonado accidentally shot himself and died of his injuries. Later that year, Joe offered an employee $15,000 to kill Baskin. The FBI, already investigating Joe, learned about the offer and sent an undercover agent posing as a hitman. Joe again attempted to hire him to kill Baskin.
