Tiger King star Joe Exotic begs Donald Trump to let him out of jail

Tiger King star Joe Exotic has begged Donald Trump to free him from jail in a letter sent to the president-elect.

Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was jailed in 2019 for plotting a murder-for-hire against his rival Carole Baskin.

"A lot of people went to bat for you in 2021 who have been living in hell ever since then," he penned in the letter to Trump. "Everyone hopes you keep the promises you made during your campaign, which include pardoning everyone sooner than later in January 2025."

"Some, like myself, have fought like hell to hang on, hoping for you to win this election," he wrote, adding that he was "scared as hell" of Kamala Harris winning the US election.

Earlier this week, Exotic also turned to X/Twitter sharing an article from the Daily Beast with the headline: "Reality Stars to Rioters: All the possible Trump pardons".

As the caption, the 61-year-old former zookeeper wrote: "Trump you got to make my Pardon Happen in January. The media is counting on you this time."

YouTube/Getty Images

Tiger King quickly became a lockdown favourite when it first aired, with an extraordinary amount of fallout and drama to follow.

Carole Baskin slammed Netflix back in 2021, claiming they said Tiger King would be similar to the likes of Blackfish, a 2013 documentary that unravelled the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity.

She also claimed producers turned the show into a "made-up feud" between her and Exotic.

Not to mention, the mystery of her missing husband Don Lewis, with Exotic making unfounded claims that she killed him and fed him to the tigers.

Baskin has always adamantly denied such accusations.

In resurfaced ITV footage, Baskin claimed the Department of Homeland Security got in touch in regards to her former spouse.

"One of the really exciting things that came out of Tiger King 2 is that they produced a letter from Homeland Security and it says that a special agent in charge with the FBI at Homeland Security reached out to the sheriff’s detective George [Jorge] Fernandez, which means this had to have happened after 2002 because Homeland Security wasn’t even around until 2002," she claimed at the time.

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