1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. Hey, guys, do 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: my best to bring you as much content as I 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: can during this COVID nineteen lockdown. So here's a special, 4 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: unplanned bonus episode. I decided late Friday afternoon to write 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: once I learned the music news about Tiger King's Joe Exotic. 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: Like the rest of America, I two binged Tiger King 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: and was excited to come at the story from a 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: music angle. So my team and I jumped into action 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: and we pulled this together in three days. So you 10 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: can ask some content on this Disgraceland off week. For context, 11 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: it usually takes two weeks to produce an episode of Disgraceland, 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: and that doesn't include research. So I not only relied 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: heavily obviously on the Netflix documentary as a source for 14 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: this episode, but I also relied on the New York 15 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: magazine Intelligencer article on Joe Exotic entitled American Animals that 16 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: was reported in partnership with over My dead Body season two. 17 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: Joe Exotic by Wondery and the rest of the sources 18 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: used for this episode are available on my website, as 19 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: are the sources for all of my episodes. Finally, if 20 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: you have some extra coin lying around and want to 21 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: donate to help prevent the type of animal cruelty depicted 22 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: in this episode, there are numerous animal rights organizations out 23 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: there worthy of your donation. And if depictions of animal cruelty, rape, 24 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: or suicide trigger you in any way, then you might 25 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: want to skip this. But stories about gun toting, mullet wearing, 26 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: polyamorous con men get you going, And guess what, motherfucker, 27 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: this episode's for you, Melotron. Stories about Joe Exotic are insane. 28 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: As the owner of a roadside zoo in Oklahoma, he 29 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: ruled over his staff like a redneck circus wrangler. He 30 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: took tigers and other large predators to malls across America 31 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: until his touring show was shut down by his nemesis, 32 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: Carol Baskin. He was strapped at all times and made 33 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: sure everyone who ever saw his YouTube show knew he 34 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: was ready to stand his ground and defense of his cats, 35 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: blowing the intruders away or just playing blow shit up. 36 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: He was a polygamist, a politician, a padlocked Prince Albert 37 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: wearing protagonist in his own movie, and he was of 38 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: course the star of a series of low budget country 39 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: music videos, including one where the body parts of his 40 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: arch rival's husband are fed to real live, hungry tigers. 41 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: The song, like the video, is so badshit crazy that 42 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: it's hard not to qualify at it as anything less 43 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: than great, because Joe Exotic made great music. Actually he didn't, 44 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: but he didn't make music sort of, but not in 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: the way you expect, and totally unlike that music you 46 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: heard at the top of the show. That wasn't great 47 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: music either. That was a preset loop from my mellotron 48 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: called Ham and Tube Funk MK. Two. I played you 49 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: that loop because I can't afford the rights to the 50 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: Box by Roddy Rich. And why would I play you 51 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,839 Speaker 1: that specific slice of lo fi auto tuned cheese? Could 52 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: I afford it? Because that was the number one song 53 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: in America on January twenty second, twenty twenty, and that 54 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: was the day that Joe Exotic was sentenced to twenty 55 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: two years in federal prison for only a small sample 56 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: of the insane behavior he had exhibited over the previous decade. 57 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: On this episode, Big Cat Exploitation, Tiger Maullie's Deadly gun Play, 58 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: Low budget Country Cheese, and Joe exotic. I'm Jake Brennan 59 00:03:53,440 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: and this is disgraceland. The police cruiser was screaming down 60 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: the highway's off ramp. Its driver was drunk to the 61 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: point of pissing the khaki pants of his uniform and 62 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: humiliated rejected again the bourbon. The beer. It dulled the pain, 63 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: but love was more than just a shot away. Gay 64 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: nightlife in Dallas, Texas in nineteen eighty five, for Eastvale 65 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: Chief of Police Joe Shrevogel was heartaches by the number, 66 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: trouble by the score, still at the age of twenty two, 67 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: while dealing with, as he would be the rest of 68 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: his life, the post dramatic stress of being raped at 69 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: the age of five and having to navigate the tricky 70 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: emotional terrain of young closeted homosexual adult. Joe, with the 71 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: alcohol revving him up, had reached his breaking point. He 72 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 1: turned down the off ramp and gunned it. Pedaled to 73 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: the metal, straight for the wall, no sad farewells, no tear, 74 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: dimmed eyes, on his way to that fair land where 75 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: the soul never dies. Joe survived the crash, some would 76 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: say thrive, but the memory of the crash snuck up 77 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: on him now and then out of nowhere, as did 78 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: the other memories, the bad ones, the one about his 79 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: first husband, Brian, dying of AIDS and that wound was deep, 80 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: it wasn't healing. Ever Worse than that, though more scarring, 81 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: more frightening, was the memory of his second husband JC. 82 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: Get on the ground, motherfucker. You're gonna eat this gun. 83 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: You hear me, You're gonna fucking eat it, Eat it, 84 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: eat it. J C was now doing a life sentence 85 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: for degree murder. He came and went, just like the memories. 86 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: Joe couldn't control them, but it didn't matter. He could 87 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: control most everything else. He had confidence in spades. He 88 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: used it to build a mini empire, an exotic animal empire. 89 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: Joe shri Vogel was now Joe Exotic Exotic Animals. Big 90 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: cats were the game. But entertainment was the business. Show business, 91 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: or more precisely, Joe business. It had always been that way, 92 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: the business of show the business of Joe. That's how 93 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: we got the gig. As chief of police at nineteen, 94 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: with zero experience or any real education, he talked himself 95 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: into it confidence and then later, as a traveling magician, 96 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: he did the same thing he knew a trick or 97 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: too sure, But like every good confidence man, Joe was 98 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: only as good as the card up his sleeve. He'd 99 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: bury the memories, strolled the expanse of his sixteen acre 100 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: exotic animal park w zoo, and contemplate his next move, 101 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: his next score, his next love. Within the sixteen acres 102 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: of the animal park, Joe was master of his domain. 103 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: Within this space, he kept an untold number of played 104 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: spinning within his own three ring circus act, not only 105 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: feeding lions and tigers and bears and more, but playing 106 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: Backwood Sugar Daddy there in Winningwood, Oklahoma, to the island 107 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: of misfit toys that made up his staff, guiding tourists 108 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: through to see the wonders and to pet the baby 109 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: tigers while they took selfies for future Facebook, Instagram and 110 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: Tinder profile picks. Business was good, ish, and there was 111 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: always some complications, some hassle, usually money, but things were up. 112 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: Joe was moving into television. He'd launched his own web 113 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: TV show, but he also had an experienced reality TV 114 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: producer and crew following his every move, making a reality 115 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: series on spec with hopes of selling it to Animal 116 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: Planet or National geography, or some other basic cable channel, 117 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: hopefully through a bidding war. So far, today it was 118 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: quiet at the zoo. Joe was sitting outside smoking, looking 119 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: up at the clouds, watching them take shape, looking for 120 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: signs wasting time, and there are only a few patrons 121 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: so far, are milling about waiting for the show to start, 122 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: waiting to shell out what few dollars they had to 123 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: hold and pet a baby tiger shit that reminded Joe 124 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: the cats over in the tiger pen needed to be fed. 125 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: Tigers only eat about once a week, meaning wild tigers 126 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: only kill once a week to eat, not for sport. 127 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: Generally speaking, tigers are afraid of humans, not that there 128 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: aren't numerous attacks of humans by tigers in the wild. 129 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: There are, but those are mainly cases of mistaken identity, 130 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: where the tiger thinks the human is something else, something 131 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: normally on the menu, like a wild boar or an 132 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 1: elephant calf. Tigers of course also attack humans when they 133 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: feel threatened, but assuming threats aren't part of the deal, 134 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: and assuming the tiger's normal diet doesn't dry up, then 135 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: humans are usually off the menu. But not on that morning, 136 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: Not at Joe Exotics Exotic Animal Park on that day. 137 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: Humans were absol fucking lutely on the menu. The animal 138 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: clawed at the arm, big six inch claws, ripping skin, 139 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: then a second swipe gripping into the muscle under the 140 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: human flesh, shredding the tendons or the muscle connected to 141 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: the bone, pulling Joe's worker, the one they called saff, 142 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: into the fence and separated him from the hungry man eater. 143 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: The tiger thrust his head at sass arm, brought its 144 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: sharp canines down through the skin of the arm, severed 145 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 1: it almost completely. The tiger fell back for a moment 146 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: on the other side of the fence. Saf managed to 147 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: get his arm free at that exact right moment, falling 148 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: into a puddle of muddy water on the ground. As 149 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: soon as the attack happened, word went out fast, and 150 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: Joe was on the scene in less than a minute, 151 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: pulling this severely wounded employee out of the muck and 152 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: quickly applying a makeshift tourniquet to his arm. In another 153 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: minute flat, Joe threw on an emt jacket, always the showman, 154 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: this time playing the role of authority through sheer confidence 155 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: alone as he went to announce the malling to the 156 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: crowd of visitors wandering around his gift shop. Even in 157 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: the face of disaster, Joe's bravado carried the day as 158 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: he described the incident to the assembled crowd as if 159 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: nothing had gone wrong except for Saff putting his arm 160 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: through the fence. It was sas fault after all, and 161 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: if for shit, sure wasn't his fault or the tigers, 162 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: because at heart, Joe's fast talking persona was inseparable from 163 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: his love for the big cats. Like all big cat people, 164 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: he had the stones to walk among some of the 165 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: world's most efficient predators. Compared to that adrenaline rush. Dealing 166 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: with the fallout on this messy day at the park 167 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: was nothing. Every confidence man knows how to handle a 168 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: mark who spots the work provided a distraction. Move along. 169 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: Nothing to see here except the gw Zoo. In the 170 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: wake of saff smalling, there was still plenty to see. 171 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: The park remained open, and Saff himself would soon be 172 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: back on the job, not wanting to give the press 173 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: more ammo in their campaign to shame Joe or worse, 174 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: shut him down. The inevitable had happened, but thanks to 175 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: an emt, costume change, and the loyalty of his workers. 176 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: Joe Exotic would stay on top for now. That night, 177 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 1: Joe sat in front of his computer. The glow of 178 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: the screening was the only light shining in his broke 179 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: down palace, a ramshackle ranch house on the Zoo's property. 180 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: Inside it was a total shithole, double wide decor. Joe 181 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: Chain smoked and cruised Craigslist. It was a nightly ritual, 182 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 1: old habit. It relaxed him. Joe knew the ins and 183 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,199 Speaker 1: outs of the free market listing site come internet sewer, 184 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: depending on what you were looking for meth, paid sex, 185 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: we whatever, and that you knew how to look for 186 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: capital T in the post to indicate the poster had meth. 187 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: Promises of roses for paid sex, for violets for we 188 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: Craigslist could hook you up, especially when it came to sex, 189 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: casual encounters, nssays for no strings attached, massages, waterworks, party 190 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: and play, all kinds of sex, sex, sex, and more sex. 191 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: So much so that Newsweek in twenty fifteen reported that 192 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 1: Craigslist alone was responsible for a sixteen percent increase in 193 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: HIV cases. Joe was clean, though he thought so, anyway, 194 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: he was in love with Travis. Travis was beautiful, which 195 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: was most of the reason why Joe married him, and 196 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: certainly all of the reason Joe's other husband, John allowed 197 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: for the polygamous union. Travis was easy on the eyes, 198 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: but that's not why John allowed Joe to bring him 199 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 1: into the relationship. John allowed it because he'd let Joe 200 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: do whatever the hell was Joe wanted to do. Joe 201 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: was the boss. Literally, Joe not only paid husband number 202 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: one John's checks at the Zoo, but Joe also paid 203 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: John's bills, took care of him real sugar daddy style. 204 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: John wasn't bad looking either, bulky nineteen years old. Joe 205 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: bought him steroids to beefcake him up a bit more, 206 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: and Joe paid for his tattoo, the one just above 207 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: his cock that said privately owned by Joe Exotic. But 208 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: aside from all that, Travis was okay with John. Like John, 209 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: Travis wasn't even really gay. He was just desperate, young, impressionable, 210 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: and easily influenced by confidence, experience, and opportunity. Travis would 211 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: go in with Joe for the same reasons John did, 212 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: and like John, Travis liked the math a little too much. 213 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: The clouded things made it all blooey up in his head. Sex, sexuality, love, desired, devotion. 214 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: What did any of it really mean? Anyway? The three 215 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: of them, Joe, Travis, and John lived somewhat happily Zoo 216 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: and Joe loved both his husbands, but Travis was special. 217 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: Maybe Joe would write him a song, Yeah, something heartfelt, 218 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: something Clint Black would sing to his pretty wife and 219 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: mean it. Joe pointed his cursor to the Little Blue 220 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: create a posting link on Craigslist and lit another cigarette. 221 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: When Joe got the MP three of the songs mix 222 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: email to him and clicked play, and the sound came 223 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: rushing out of his tiny little computer speakers. It was glorious. 224 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 1: Joe heard his future calling him. The song was perfect, 225 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,359 Speaker 1: so on brand. So Joe, the reality shoe television producers, 226 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: the networks, his staff at the Zoo, They're all gonna 227 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: have the same reaction. Joe, you sound amazing, Damn RIGHTY 228 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: tell him he was Joe Exotic, not some other guy. 229 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: Of course he could sing. He had one good leg 230 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: left too. After that bitch Tiger Chainsaw tore him up good. 231 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: But guess what motherfucker he could dance too, But singing 232 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: and dancing wasn't gonna be enough. He needed theatrics, and 233 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: in the age of the Internet, clicks were almost as 234 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: good as dollars, and that meant Joe needed a video. 235 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: He had the song. Now it was time to pour 236 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: gas on this bitch. The federal agents from the US 237 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: Fish and Wildlife Service could not believe what they were seeing, 238 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: yet they couldn't stop watching. They didn't even like country music. Hell, 239 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: one of them didn't even really like music. Yet these 240 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: music videos were endlessly entertaining, so amateur, yet so damn 241 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: batshit crazy. It was better than porn. There were love 242 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: letters to tigers with cheap storm cloud visuals, explosions, a 243 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: ubiquitous bottle dyed mullet, uncomfortable, extra shitty tattoos, tattooed eyeliner, 244 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: more shitty tattoos, a candlelight dinner for one, more tigers, 245 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: more storm clouds, scantily cloud Country chicks were the singer 246 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: who everyone knew was gay because he was openly married 247 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: to not one but two men, surrounded himself with hot 248 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: babes to demonstrate his sexual prowess with the ladies called 249 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: pretty woman, Lover and In all the videos, the one 250 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: constant besides the mullet, of course, was the singer's shameless confidence. 251 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: It's unbelievable he comes across as some sort of every 252 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: rose has its thorn era Brett Michaels crossed with Joe 253 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: dirt and with zero irony and about as much self 254 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: awareness as Kenny Powers. But the one that took the cake, 255 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: the video that absolute could not be topped, was the 256 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: one called Here Kitty Kitty. In it, the singer Joe 257 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: Exotic aka Joe Maldonado Passage aka Joe Maldonado aka Joe 258 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: Shrivogel sings directly to his nemesis while wearing a priest uniform, 259 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,639 Speaker 1: while an actor playing his nemesis feeds her husband's body 260 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: parts to real live hungry tigers. That nemesis one Carol Baskin, 261 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: owner of Big Cat Rescue outside Tampa, Florida. Like any 262 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: good nemesis, Carol was like Joe in some ways, but 263 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,920 Speaker 1: his polar opposite and others. Like Joe, Carol loved big 264 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: cats and provided them a sanctuary in which to live 265 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: out their days in captivity. Unlike Joe, Carol had sworn 266 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: off breeding and declared herself an animal rights activist. Like Joe, 267 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,360 Speaker 1: Carol knew the value of internet publicity, sharing web vlogs 268 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: and maintaining a highly popular Facebook group. Unlike Joe, she 269 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: used her online platform to target animal abusers and tried 270 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: to shut down their businesses, and Joe was at the 271 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: top of her list. From Joe's perspective, this was rank hypocrisy. 272 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: Letters from Big Cat Rescue had hounded his touring mall 273 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: show until he had to shut it down. But how 274 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: much better really was Carol's organization than his own? It 275 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 1: was clear to everyone watching with grim fascination over the 276 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: interwebs she had gotten under his skin. In Joe's web videos, 277 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: Joe had positioned mannequins and sex dolls labeled Carol and 278 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: blow them up with dynamite, empty gun barrels into them, 279 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: and threatened to send Carol venomous snakes through the US mail. 280 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: And these weren't the acts of any normal confidence man, 281 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: but of a showman who had started drinking his own 282 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: kool aid. Carol up the antie and retaliated by suing 283 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: Joe for copyright infringement for ripping off her Big Cat 284 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,199 Speaker 1: Rescue logo In an effort to sew confusion in the 285 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: Big Cat community. The sewing of confusion worked for Joe, 286 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: and so did the lawsuit for Carol. Carol won her 287 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,919 Speaker 1: day in court, and the result would be her bleeding 288 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: Joe financially for years. He was crushed, nearly ruined financially 289 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: because of it, and he couldn't let the gripe against 290 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: Carol go. The hypocrisy of it all, especially considering that Joe, 291 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: like a lot of others in the Big Cat community, 292 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: was convinced that Carol was the actual criminal, a felon, 293 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: even a murderer, who got away with killing her husband 294 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: and taking over his fortune, dousing him with sardine oil 295 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: and feeding him to the tigers on their property. And 296 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: that was the running theory anyway, There's no evidence supporting it, 297 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: but the story worked with Joe's narrative that Carol was 298 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: the real villain, not him, and he was going to 299 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: prove it. That's what the new song was all about, 300 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: and that's what the Here Kitty Kitty video was about too, 301 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: Joe singing his ass off, channeling Charlie Leavin. It wasn't 302 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,360 Speaker 1: quite Knoxville Girl, but Here Kitty Kitty was steeped in murdered. 303 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: Joe was shining a light on Carroll's bullshit, showing the 304 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: war in his eyes. She was a murderer. And that's 305 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: why the FEDS were watching Joe clocking his silly music videos, 306 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: making sure his antics didn't escalate into anything real. Because 307 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: there were rumors, rumors that Joe was more than just 308 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: a hapless, publicity starved con man. There were rumors about 309 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: the slaughtered tigers, and darker rumors still that Joe had 310 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,439 Speaker 1: real murder on his mind. We'll be right back after 311 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: this word word word. Tiger coves are high unto themselves. 312 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: They're potentially dangerous, but not really. People love them. They're 313 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: so damn cute, beautiful. People can't get enough of them, 314 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: And therein was the draw to Joe Exotic Zoo the cubs. 315 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: People would line up for hours to pay five bucks 316 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: to get to hold them for a couple of minutes, 317 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: and then another five bucks to get their picture snapped 318 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: with them. But the problem with tiger coves is they 319 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: grow up in the big hungry tigers that cost over 320 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,439 Speaker 1: ten grand a year to feed each and for someone 321 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: like Joe Exotic, those big hungry tigers weren't good for 322 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: much beyond making more tiger cubs. But pretty soon those 323 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: cubs would be old enough to make more cubs, and 324 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,680 Speaker 1: then they too will be costing too much money to feed. 325 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: It was a goddamn vicious cycle. Travis hopped in Joe's pickup. 326 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 1: He wasn't excited about what he knew they were going 327 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: to do. Joe, behind the wheel didn't seem to care 328 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: at all. He sang along to Garth Brooks on the 329 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,439 Speaker 1: radio as they drove to the outer limit of the 330 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: zoo's property. Out there, other zoo staff were waiting. The 331 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: ditch was doug days ago. Joe pulled up to it, 332 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: hopped out of the truck, took a shotgun. Travis stayed 333 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: in the pickup, and the adult tigers Joe had requested 334 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: were there in the ditch, roaming, all five of them. Samson, Delilah, Trinity, Lauren, 335 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: and Cuddles. Raised a shotgun, took aim and blasted Samson away, 336 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: then Delilah, then Trinity, Lauren, and at last Cuddles. They 337 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: all died instantly, all five of them, and Joe was 338 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: off the hook for fifty grand. The callous murder of 339 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: the tigers was one of the many things Travis could 340 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: no longer truck with. Life on the Zoo was well 341 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: a zoo. Joe was a mess in constant motion, starting 342 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: one fire to distract from another. There was the lawsuit 343 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: with Carol, the literal fire in the Alligator House, the 344 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: destruction of their web studio in years of lost footage, 345 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,959 Speaker 1: and unbelievably a serious run for governor of Oklahoma by 346 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: the most unserious of candidates. Making matters worse was the 347 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: fact that Travis confided to others that Joe had him 348 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: completely locked down, that he wouldn't let him leave the zoo, 349 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: wouldn't let him get a job elsewhere, that he kept 350 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: him doped up on grass and meth in order to 351 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: keep him under his thumb. Travis sunk into a deep 352 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,439 Speaker 1: depression because of it, all smoked more and more weed 353 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: and doubled down on the meth. All the while Joe 354 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: was consumed with the zoo, was paying off the lawsuit 355 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: from Carol, with a silly campaign for governor that was 356 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: going nowhere, and with his new friend Jeff. Jeff was 357 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: Jeff Low from Las Vegas, Rumored to be a con 358 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: man of sorts himself. Jeff had what Joe needed cash, 359 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: cash to keep the studio afloat while Joe paid off Carol, 360 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,399 Speaker 1: Jeff could get shit done. Dig that McMansion on the 361 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: outskirts of town, dig that hummer, dig that swinging dime 362 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: spot wife, with the trysts, with the call girls in Vegas. 363 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: Jeff had it going on. Jeff was the answer to 364 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: Joe's prayers, or so Joe thought. No one else did. 365 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: Jeff represented the end death. Joe transferred legal ownership with 366 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: the zoo to Jeff and focused on brand and entertainment 367 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: and fending off Carol. Jeff managed his new investment, quickly 368 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: took control of the zoo and brought in new management, 369 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 1: Alan Glover. Alan Glover ran out of Fox decades before 370 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: running into Joe Exotic in his band of misfit toys 371 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:19,360 Speaker 1: at the GW Zoo. Alan did hard time, a convicted 372 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 1: felon who snickered at Joe's tattooed eyeliner. Alan had a 373 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: teardrop tattoo below his eye. Rumors spread that it was 374 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,120 Speaker 1: a prison marker, symbolizing that Allan had killed a man, 375 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: though many claim that the teardrop prison logo is an 376 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: indicator that it's wearer is a bitch, someone sissy, someone 377 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: turned out by a more dominant prisoner, a sex toy. 378 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 1: It's not surprising which meeting Alan ran with on the zoo. 379 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: He refused to work for Joe, degraded him regularly for 380 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: being a homosexual, claimed he worked for Jeff and Jeff alone, 381 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: which was true. Alan didn't get along with Joe's other 382 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: zoo staff either, Travis among them, Travis was sunk. Not 383 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: only was working with Alan under the new zoo order 384 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: of pain in the ass, Joe was not himself. He 385 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: was irritable, His mood swings were off the charts. He 386 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: was regularly blowing up its staff, berating them high, fucked up, 387 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: a erratic, becoming more possessive of not only Travis, but 388 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: also of John as other husband. Near impossible to deal with, 389 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: and due to Carol's lawsuit and the constant pressure put 390 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: on Joe to pay off the massive million dollar plus 391 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: debt the court's rule to the olde Carol, Joe was 392 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: constantly stressed about money. Feeding the cats was becoming impossible, 393 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: and there was only so much and expired meat donations 394 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: he could grab from the local Walmart, and a good 395 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: portion of that bad meat was now being used to 396 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: top the pizza Joe was serving to customers from the 397 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: new pizzeria he and Jeff built on the zoo. But 398 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: customers weren't the only ones who needed to eat. The 399 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: adult tigers needed to eat too, and Joe had no 400 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: cash to make it happen, so he was eager to 401 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: take the call about the horse, the one some locals 402 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: wanted Joe to take off their hands. They wanted to 403 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: donate it to the zoo. Travis thought it was a 404 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: bad idea. Joe didn't give a fuck with Travis thought. 405 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: Travis smoked some more dope. Joe, once the horse was donated, 406 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: arranged for it to be brought out to the ditch. 407 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: Travis was bored. There were only so many trails to 408 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,159 Speaker 1: tear ass over on his four wheeler. Joe grabbed his 409 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 1: shotgun and headed out toward the ditch. Travis grabbed his 410 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: ruger and headed toward the zoo's office. Joe was fed up, 411 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: tired of the hassle of the zoo, Carroll's bullshit, Jeff's bullshit, 412 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: tired of the staff, tired of John, tired of Travis, 413 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: tired even of the tigers. Travis was fed up as well, 414 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: fed up with Joe, mostly his constant bullshit, his possessive ways. 415 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: Fed up because frankly, he had no life with Joe. 416 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: He wasn't allowed to leave, to work, to love, to live. 417 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: Joe drove in his pickup blasted as newest would be single. 418 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: God damn, this demo was hot. He knew it, and 419 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: the vocals especially deep, resonant, hinting at a knowing soul, 420 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: someone who's seen some shit, a dead husband, a jailed husband, 421 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 1: a kept husband. Travis stopped his four wheeler, blasted a 422 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: rail of math up his nose. His blood ran hot. 423 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,119 Speaker 1: He knew he was fucked this time, especially trapped, kept 424 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: dying inside to be more, someone who could live a life, 425 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,160 Speaker 1: a real person, a real man, a freeman. Joe put 426 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,640 Speaker 1: his hand on his shotgun on the seat at his side. 427 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: It comforted him, made him feel like the man he 428 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: was in control. Confident, Travis patted his hand on the 429 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: ruger in his pocket as he bounced off the four wheeler. 430 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: It gave him purpose for a moment anyway. Less confused, 431 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: Joe exited the pickup truck and there was the horse, 432 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,879 Speaker 1: as requested, roaming in the ditch. Travis entered the zoo's office. 433 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 1: There was the camera, as expected, running up on its perch. 434 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: Joe raised the shotgun. Travis raised the ruger. Joe thought, 435 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: out here, no one would see, Travis thought. With the 436 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: camera on, everyone would see. Joe point out straight at 437 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,959 Speaker 1: the horse's head. Future tiger met, he thought. Travis pointed 438 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: it to the temple of his own head. Fuck with me, 439 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: Fuck with you. He pulled the trigger. Publicly, Joe displayed 440 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: legitimate grief and of course confidence. Travis's death tore him 441 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: up good and it brought a ship ton of publicity, 442 00:28:54,760 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: good and bad, down on Joe, Jeff, and the Zoo. Privately, 443 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: Joe is a mess alone at night, with the remnants 444 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: of his trauma, the constant pick of his stress and 445 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: rattling anxiety, the hum of Craigslist as always lighting his 446 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: room from his computer screen, the television dead quiet, just 447 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: like his confidence. Joe lashed out. He pulled the revolver 448 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: from his side, the one he kept on him at 449 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: all times, took game at his television and blew it away. 450 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: Then he took gaim at the couch across from him 451 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: and fired a bullet through it. As well, And finally 452 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: he did what seemed like an inevitability. He put the 453 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: barrel of the gun to his own head and pulled 454 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: the trigger. But the pistol malfunctioned and Joe Exotic escaped 455 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: death by his own hand. But Carol Baskin would not 456 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: be so lucky, not if Joe had anything to do 457 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: about it. She was bleeding him. It had to end. 458 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: She was the living embodiment of an existential threat to 459 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: his way of life. She had to die, and Joe 460 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 1: knew just how to do it. He was confident that 461 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: not only could he get rid of Carol, but if 462 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: he was smart, he could solve another problem as well, 463 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: get rid of that world class prick, Alan Gardner in 464 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: the process and killed two birds with one crossbow. And 465 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: that was the plan anyway, The plan he cooked up 466 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: with Alan traveling halfway across the country from Oklahoma to Tampa, 467 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: Florida with a gun for Alan for an ex con 468 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: was too risky, so a crossbow was decided upon. Alan 469 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: would sneak out to Carroll's property with a crossbow while 470 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: she was out for a regular bike ride and shoot 471 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: her with it. No, Alan had a better idea. He 472 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: was into the knife, smaller, easier to carry and conceal. 473 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: He'd sneak onto Carroll's property, wait for her in the bushes, 474 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: jump out, attack, and cut her head off for five 475 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. But Alan was in it for more than 476 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: the money. He hated Joe, and he knew that if 477 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: he did this for him, he would own him forever. 478 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: Alan knew already that he was going to hell for 479 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,120 Speaker 1: his sins. He needed to make the most of this world. 480 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: He told a friend and confidant of his and Jeff's, 481 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: James Garretson, who was in on the plan to kill Carol. 482 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: If anybody rats me out and I get popped everybody 483 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,719 Speaker 1: that they love, I'll have them burnt alive, every fucking 484 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: single person. And I mean that from the bottom of 485 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 1: my heart. They will be burnt the fuck alive. Joe 486 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: promised Alan the full five k when the job was complete, 487 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: and gave him a three grand advance. Alan got in 488 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: his car, headed for Florida and quickly blew all the 489 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:40,719 Speaker 1: money on strippers, booze, and drugs. There was no hit 490 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: on Carol. Fuck it. Alan decided the five K and 491 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: Joe fucking Exotic weren't worth more time. Joe Exotic, he 492 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: of the never ending bullshit, the consummate entertainer, a man 493 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: who's seen forever confident, an extraordinary confidence man, a confidence 494 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: man's con man, had been out conned by the ex 495 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: Cohn Alan Gardner, who not only conned Joe out of 496 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: his money, but conspired with Jeff Lowe and their friend 497 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: James Garretson to set Joe up for the FEDS and 498 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: help convict him of a murder for higher plot, murder 499 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 1: for hire being a tricky charge to land convictions for 500 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: needing an exchange of money, wired recordings acknowledging the plot 501 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: and then motioned by the hired assassin to execute the 502 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: plot well, the FEDS being the FEDS, weren't going to 503 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: hang their hat on a complicated scheme that wouldn't guarantee 504 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: a guilty verdict, especially once Alan blew the money on 505 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: a lost weekend in Florida instead of taking out Carol. 506 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: So Joe was brought up on nineteen total charges, two 507 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: that covered the attempt to kill Carol in seventeen for 508 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: animal cruelty, including multiple attempts to sell or offer to 509 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: sell tigers, and perhaps most heart strength pulling of all 510 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: the Murder of the Five Tigers, Samson, Delilah, Trinity, Lauren, 511 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: and Cuddles for all of it. Joe got twenty two 512 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: years in a cage for Joe Exotic, for Joe Maldonado, Passage, 513 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 1: Joe Maldonado, Joe Shrivoga. There were many humiliations about prison, 514 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: the irony, of course, being the heat a man who 515 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: exploited helpless animals, killing them and keeping them caged for 516 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 1: his own enrichment was now behind bars. That, of course 517 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: stung like a motherfucker. But perhaps more stinging was the 518 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: fact that finally Joe Exotic's confidence had paid off. He 519 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: was famous, not because of some lowbrow reality TV show, 520 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: and not because of his silly music videos, but because 521 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: of a Netflix documentary, Tiger King, that captured America's imagination 522 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: at a time when the country desperately needed the distraction. 523 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,440 Speaker 1: Joe Exotic was the most famous man in America, and 524 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: he was rotting behind bars. That stung, But so too 525 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 1: did the discovery and humiliation that Joe wasn't, even in 526 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: his newfound fame, quite what he presented himself as. After 527 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: the popularity of the Netflix documentary on his life, his 528 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,280 Speaker 1: Zoo his beef with Carol, it came out in public 529 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 1: that Joe wasn't the real voice behind those impassioned country 530 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:20,360 Speaker 1: songs he'd been releasing over the years, songs and music 531 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: videos that constituted so much of who Joe was his identity. 532 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: But no Joe, with his high pitched nasally redneck lil 533 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 1: couldn't hold a tune if it was drenched in crazy glue. 534 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,280 Speaker 1: Word is out that Joe Milli Vanilli, that shit, pointed 535 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: the cursor toward the blue, create a posting link on 536 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: Craigslist and learned a struggling country act from Vancouver, Washington, 537 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,840 Speaker 1: the Clinton Johnson Band, to write, record, and of course 538 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: sing his songs for him. Joe Exotic Forever, a con Forever, 539 00:34:53,239 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: a Disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan in this his Disgraceland. Disgraceland 540 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,840 Speaker 1: was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership 541 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found 542 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If 543 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you 544 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and if not, 545 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: you can become a member right now. 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