Joe Exotic's husband Dillon Passage says he still loves him and hasn't abandoned him: 'I’m fighting for you'
A day after 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic bared his soul in an emotional letter, asking his supporters to stop sending him pictures of his current husband, Dillon Passage, seemingly partying in the real world while he rots in jail, Passage penned a long Instagram message in response, revealing the truth about his life without Exotic.
"My heart is breaking after reading Joe’s letter. He is living in hell right now and I’m outraged by the way he is being treated. I can’t even begin to imagine how that is breaking his spirit. I love Joe and I’m standing by him. The photos that I post on here are a highlight reel of my life… What you don’t see are the hours that I’m alone at home, missing my husband and my friend," Passage wrote, claiming that his Instagram did not show the reality of what his life has presently become.
Exotic, the disgraced zookeeper, 57, whose life story became widely popular after the huge success of the Netflix documentary, 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,' was convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire to kill a rival animal rights activist, Carole Baskin, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act in January and sentenced to 22 years in jail. In an impassioned letter obtained by TMZ on Monday, June 8, Exotic said that his "soul is dead" as he remains imprisoned "24/7" without access to a phone, email, or commissary. He also wrote that due to his CVID condition he required blood infusions "every four weeks" - something he has not received "since end of January."
"I'm loosing [sic] weight, sores wont heal, I'll be dead in 2-3 months, it's like I have been sent to death row, they stopped all of my medication except one, this place is hell on earth [sic]," he wrote. He also went on to claim that he hadn't received a letter or a phone call from his husband since being imprisoned and urged his supporters to not send pictures of what Passage was doing as he did not want to see him having a good time and partying with others while Exotic remains behind bars.
"I don't even know if I'm married anymore, seems everyone is so busy making money and being famous," he wrote. "I don't get even a letter from Dillon, everyone sends pictures of him having fun and all but as a person screaming for help I am asking you to stop."
In response, Passage claimed that he had been sending letters to Exotic but the latter had not been receiving them for some reason. "I’ve been writing letters and it is a shame to hear that he isn’t receiving them… I know they limit the amount he can read in a week and I only hope they eventually get to him. Joe, I hope that this reaches you too. Know that I love you and I’m fighting for you everyday. #freejoeexotic"
Exotic, on the other hand, seemed miserable in his letter as he begged Passage to tell him if he had moved on and no longer wished to be married to him. "The mental torture of being locked in this room alone and not even hearing Dillon's voice or a letter, I wish I could just have ended things when Travis died," referring to one of his former husbands, who accidentally shot himself in the head. "... If he has moved on he should tell me, if he hasn't I am begging to support me. Sad to be dumped like a dog in the shelter but that's how it feels."