Catch up with the Tiger King cast before season 2 is unleashed

Tiger King’s primary subject, Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, is still in prison. The former operator of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park was sentenced to 22 years in January 2020 on two murder-for-hire counts and 17 charges of animal abuse. A federal appeals court reduced his term to 17 years in July of this year.Maldonado-Passage continues to clamor for attention from behind bars, hoping to get pardoned. After the docuseries went viral, singer and rapper Cardi B took to Twitter to announce she “stans” Joe Exotic. H in rallying his supporters. President Trump , and Maldonado-Passage sent him a handwritten letter in September 2020 asking for clemency. Private investigator Eric Love and attorney John M. Phillipps championed the campaign to free him. On the day Trump announced his list of pardoned convicts, with a limousine and a hair and makeup team outside Federal Medical Center in Texas—that blonde mullet would require maintenance, after all. But Maldonado-Passage’s name wasn’t on the list. He has reportedly reached out to President Joe Biden about pardons as well.In May 2020, an Oklahoma court gave ownership of his beloved zoo to his nemesis, Carole Baskin. His husband, Dillon Passage, announced their divorce earlier this year. Maldonado-Passage he has been diagnosed with cancer. He (or his team of lawyers) actively tweets about Tiger King 2, hoping justice will prevail for him (whatever that means) after it is released. After Tiger King season one, he was the focus of two other documentaries: Discovery UK’s Surviving Joe Exotic and BBC’s Shooting Joe Exotic. Nicolas Cage was set to play Maldonado-Passage in a . about him is still happening, with John Cameron Mitchell in the lead role.

Carole Baskin will forever be associated with the phrase, “Hey, all you cool cats and kittens.” The animal rights activist and CEO of nonprofit Big Cat Rescue was heavily featured in Tiger King because of her wild feud with Maldonado-Passage. The third episode speculated about whether she was involved in the disappearance of her former husband, Don Lewis. Baskin openly criticized the portrayal after the first season debuted, .She was given custody of the G.W. Exotic Animal Park in mid-2020, which was being operated by Jeff Lowe after Maldonado-Passage was convicted. Baskin plans to sell the property under the condition that the space will never be used for anything zoo-related in the future. Baskin and her current husband, Howard Baskin, appear in Shooting Joe Exotic, but they refused to return for the second season of Tiger King. She even filed a temporary restraining order against producers Royal Goode Productions and Netflix to stop any footage of them or their sanctuary from being featured on Tiger King 2. Baskin was a contestant on season 29 of Dancing With The Stars last year. She takes center stage in the new Discovery+ show, Carole Baskin’s Cage Fight. Kate McKinnon is playing her in Peacock’s Joe Exotic series.

Kevin Antle, aka Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle, is better known to Tiger King viewers as Doc Antle (seriously, what is up with all these pet names?). The animal trainer and private breeder has appeared in Dr. Doolittle and Ace Ventura, but the Netflix series is his claim to fame. Or, rather, his claim to infamy.After years of being suspected of animal cruelty, Antle was under investigation in 2020 for the illegal sale of big cats. In October, he was indicted along with his two daughters for wildlife trafficking, misdemeanor animal cruelty, and violations of the Endangered Species Act. No wonder that, much like Baskin, he regrets appearing in Tiger King.

Maldonado-Passage brought Jeff Lowe, a former zookeeper, onto his team to help run his zoo. Lowe and his wife, Lauren, took over operating duties after his partner retired and was eventually, you know, jailed. However, once Baskin was assigned the zoo property. Lowe was given 120 days to vacate the space.In November 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint that the Lowes were violating the Endangered Species Act and Animal Welfare Act. A couple of months later, a district judge ordered the couple to completely stop breeding animals. . Almost 70 were seized, which included lions, tigers, ligers, bobcats, raccoons, foxes, porcupines, camels, lemurs, and ferrets. The Lowes were arrested for DUI in June 2021.

Reinke became a fan-favorite after Tiger King. The former bungee-jumper has moved to Texas after quitting his managerial position at the G.W. Zoo. He remained supportive of his boss, Maldonado-Passage, in the show, but Reinke told McHale in the Tiger King special that they haven’t been in touch since his incarceration. He also said that he left his wife of 30 years, and has a girlfriend now. In May 2020, that he received no compensation for being on the show, and that he’s “heard that some people made money on it, and that kind of irritates me a little bit. But I’ve not tried to make money at all through this… until now.” He’s gone on to star in the bizarre production Barbie & Kendra Save The Tiger King. In the mockumentary, Barbie and Kendra fall in love with Joe Exotic and go on a mission to free him from jail after, wait for it, escaping the coronavius zombies. The movie shows how Joe was captured by a tribe as a child after a plane crash in the jungle. Leslie Jordan voices a young Joe Exotic. Enjoy.

Journalist and filmmaker Rick Kirkham prominently appears in Tiger King. Since its airing, he has given multiple interviews recounting his stint with Maldonado-Passage at the zoo from 2014 to 2015, calling it a traumatic time. He often describes the animal cruelty and general absurd behavior he witnessed, including the mysterious fire at the zoo studio that destroyed all his footage and recordings.Discovery ID released an hour-long special, The Truth Behind Joe Exotic: The Rick Kirkham Story, in June 2020, which features a horrifying rap and a disturbing story about Maldonado-Passage killing a horse. The special follows up with Kirkham, who moved to Norway, got married, and built a tiny replica of an American bar in his basement. He continues to work as a freelance reporter.

John Finlay was in a relationship with Joe Exotic for several years. The show featured him getting married to Maldonado-Passage in a three-way ceremony with the late Travis Maldonado. However, Finlay claims it was all a publicity stunt and he was never legally married to the duo. that Tiger King failed to show that he is six years sober, and even got new teeth implants in 2019. Finlay also told McHale in the Tiger King special that the show made him look like a “drugged-up hillbilly.”Finlay is now married to a woman named Stormey. The two began dating in 2019 after meeting through an app. that his wedding was the “happiest day of his life” and he has finally found “deep love.”

Maldonado-Passage tied the knot with his fifth husband, Dillon Passage, in 2017, when Passage was just 22 years old. For a few months after his husband’s imprisonment, Passage appeared on multiple television talk shows to try and rile up supporters. However, in March 2021, Passage announced the two were getting a divorce with . Part of the long caption reads: “We are on good terms still and I hope it can stay that way. I will continue to have Joe in my life and do my best to support him while he undergoes further legal battles to better his situation.”

Longtime animal caretaker Erik Cowie died in New York in September 2021 from acute and chronic alcohol use. Cowie stayed at the zoo even after Madonado-Passage was arrested. He was an important witness for the prosecution, and testified against his former boss.