Joe Exotic is pleading with the public for assistance in helping him pay off money owing to his Netflix nemesis Carole Baskin.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison, although he is expected to be resentenced, for violating federal wildlife laws and for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Baskin.
In legal documents obtained by TMZ, a judge ordered him to pay $10,000 to Baskin from a dispute over the Oklahoma zoo he used to own. The outlet further notes that Exotic still owes $1 million to Baskin's Big Cat Rescue from her trademark infringement lawsuit.
Exotic has now set up a GoFundMe page through which he is hoping to raise $500,000. In a statement to Fox News via his attorney, Exotic said the whole ordeal began because Baskin was "obsessed" with him.
"She haunted me, emailed businesses who worked with me. She is not a philanthropist," he said. "I agreed to the judgment after bad advice from lawyers. She hired lawyers to stop a bankruptcy. She then used the debt to make me and the animals suffer. I couldn’t afford lawyers when they set me up."
Exotic went on to state that he's "broke, in prison, with cancer," all while Baskin "keeps her hand out." The former zookeeper previously revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Late last year he was transferred to a medical facility in North Carolina for federal inmates.
In his statement for Fox News, Exotic stated that when he is released he will need to get Baskin off his back.
"She doesn’t deserve it. I hate to ask for it," he said, adding that he was begging for help in order to help Baskin get her "d--- blood money."
"Everyone, if you enjoyed Tiger King or had some Joe Exotic fun, donate $5. Cardi B, you said you’d start a gofundme. Please help," he said. "Let’s pay that f---ing b---- back and get me back. Carole, give it to the animals. Use it to clean up that mess in Tampa, not to pay off politicians."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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