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Tiger King: Joe Exotic in coronavirus isolation in prison, husband claims

Imprisoned star’s husband also denied that Exotic ever mistreated animals

Adam White
Thursday 02 April 2020 07:41 BST
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Tiger King's Joe Exotic on Louis Theroux documentary in 2011

Tiger King star Joe Exotic is in coronavirus isolation in prison, his husband has claimed.

Exotic is currently serving a 22-year sentence at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, after being convicted in 2019 of 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire.

His husband, Dillon Passage, told Andy Cohen’s US radio show that he has since been moved due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We speak three to five times every day,” Passage said. “But since he’s been moved to this new facility, they are putting him on a COVID-19 isolation because of the previous jail he was at — there were cases.

“I have yet to speak to him since he’s been moved.”

Passage denied that Exotic himself has contracted the virus. He also used the Cohen interview to deny that his husband ever abused animals.

“If he really mistreated the animals, do you think he’d be able to walk into a cage with 10-plus cats at one time?” Passage asked.

While Carole Baskin, the other main subject of Tiger King, has condemned the smash hit Netflix docuseries, Exotic has reportedly been “tickled pink” by the attention it has brought him.

“He has lived his entire life just to be famous and so to finally realise this fame is just... He’s tickled pink,” the series’ co-director Eric Goode revealed.

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