Joe Exotic. Just the name can bring a million things to mind. Tigers. Mullets. Murder plots. Country music. The list goes on. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this character from Netflix's docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness must be worth a million.
Perhaps we shouldn't be asking ourselves what words we can think of about Joe, but, rather, what words does he have to say about himself and the world? We listened to all that he had to say in the true-crime documentary, and we've got some of his best quotes here to share with you. Here are some of the strangest things Joe Exotic has said in Tiger King.
Updated May 27th, 2020 by Meg Pelliccio: There are still viewers out there who have only recently discovered or have yet to discover the joys of Netflix's true crime documentary, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Whether an old fan or a new one, there's plenty of Joe Exotic material out there that has viewers stifling a laugh as they watch his larger than life antics unfold on screen.
With such an ostentatious character as that of Joe Exotic, the self-titled "Tiger King", it's hard to limit ourselves to just ten of his best quotes and so we thought it was high-time we revisited some of his other crazy and hilarious quotes.
"I'm Joe Exotic, Otherwise Known As The Tiger King, The Gay, Gun-Carrying Redneck With A Mullet."
If you've ever wondered who Joe Exotic is, this sentence pretty much sums it up. Joe was born "Joe Schreibvogel," but he began going by Joe exotic early in his career after gaining some fame doing magic shows and appearances with exotic animals that he had in his zoo.
As far as being a gun carrier, you definitely can't miss this fact. He wears one of his guns in a holster around his waist, and he will often shoot it and other guns for fun. The mullet is signature Joe, and it's hard to imagine him without it!
"People Every Day Are Like, 'You Must Have The Most Incredible Life To Live With 187 Big Cats.'"
Joe opened his zoo, the Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park, in his late brother's honor, and, in the year 2000, he adopted his first two tigers. Since then, his collection and love of big cats have only grown. In addition to the tigers, he also has had lions, black panthers, ligers, and other large felines as well.
Cats aren't the only type of animal to live in his zoo, either. Joe had two chimpanzees for years until he brought them down to an ape sanctuary in Florida. The zoo also contained bears, alligators, kangaroos, and more exotic animals.
"I Am Gay As A Three Dollar Bill, And I'm Standing In A Cage With Five Full-Grown Tigers And Lions."
You probably have never seen a three dollar bill, and we can guarantee you've never seen anyone quite like Joe Exotic, either. The man is indeed gay, and he is not shy about that fact. He's not afraid to show his love publicly, including by featuring men in his romantic music videos.
Joe has had several husbands, and he was involved in a polygamous relationship with two of them for a while. He is currently married to a man named Dillon Passage, who is faithful to him, even when they cannot see each other.
"People Don't Come To See The Tigers; They Come To See Me."
Jeff Lowe, the new CEO of Joe's zoo, came along to help dig Joe out of the dirt when things around the park started to go downhill. He shared this quote from Joe during one of his interviews on Tiger King.
While there are over 2,000 zoos in the United States and between 4,000 and 10,000 tigers living in captivity, there is only one Joe Exotic, and we think it's safe to say that plenty of people have chosen to visit the GW zoo specifically to see Joe, as well as the animals. Zoo worker Saff said, that even though Jeff Lowe became the owner, Joe was still the star of the show.
"I'm Not Changing The Way I Dress, I Refuse To Wear A Suit... I Am Gay... I Am Broke As S***, I Have A Judgement Against Me From Some B**** Down There In Florida."
This compilation of facts about Joe was compiled from one of Joe's presidential campaign video featured on the show Last Week Tonight. Host John Oliver talked about Joe as an eccentric third party option for president in case citizens didn't like the main candidates running for the 2016 election.
John and the viewers of his show made fun of Joe, but Joe didn't care. He loved being on TV, and he ate up the fame that came with it. In his mind, he had made it big. Some people, including his campaign manager Joshua Dial, believed that running for president was just a big publicity stunt for the zoo.
"I Went To Work Every Day Prepared To Die In A Tiger Cage. Dying Doesn't Scare Me."
Joe was very aware that, even though he was experienced and that his tigers were used to people, accidents could still happen. According to the Humane Society, there have been over 300 dangerous incidents involving big cats in the United States between 1990 and 2012, resulting in severe injuries, loss of limbs, and even death.
An accident happened at Joe's own zoo with a 27-year-old worker named Saff. The young man broke protocol and reached his hand into the cage instead of using a tool, and the tiger non-aggressively bit his arm. Instead of dealing with two years of reconstructive surgery, Saff chose to have the lower part of his arm amputated.
"Just About an Hour Ago We Had an Incident Where One of the Employees Stuck Their Arm Through the Cage and the Tiger Tore Her Arm Off... I Can Give You Your Money Back or I Can Give You a Rain Check."
One of the most dramatic moments of the docu-series was when a staff member named Kelci "Saff" Saffery lost his arm during a tiger attack. If the attack itself wasn't jaw-dropping enough, Joe Exotic's reaction to the accident was even wilder, with him being more preoccupied about losing money over the incident. Joe also lacked any professionalism as he casually told customers of the attack.
While Joe's original quote refers to Saff as "her", Saff is trans and prefers to go by he/him pronouns. Surprisingly, Saff has reportedly said he trusts the tiger that attacked him more than he trusts Joe Exotic.
"I'd Like To Introduce My Wife, But My Husband's At Home Feeding My Brand-New Baby Kangaroo."
Joe said this little joke while he was at a political event during one of his campaigns. He said that he had "always wanted to say that," laughing to himself. The camera switched to a shot of the audience, who were all straight-faced. We see three of Joe's husbands on the documentary, but we aren't sure who exactly was feeding the baby kangaroo.
John came to work for Joe when he was only nineteen, and Joe and John quickly formed a relationship. After nineteen-year-old Travis came to work for him later, Joe asked if the three of them could be in a relationship together. The three took part in a wedding ceremony in 2014. Unfortunately, John left Joe for a woman, and Travis tragically passed away in 2017.
"[Jeff Lowe] Is A Little Man With A Little D*** And A Limp, And He's Bald, And He's Got To Pay Everyone To Have Sex With Him."
Joe and Jeff definitely didn't always get along very well, and Joe rambled on with this handful of digs about the new owner on a recording. The two men fought over money, legal issues, things going on around the zoo, and zoo employees.
Even though Jeff was legally the new owner and CEO of the zoo, Joe still wanted to be in charge, and he felt like the zoo employees should be working for him, not Jeff. Jeff brought on new employees who were loyal to him, not Joe. Eventually, after all of the trouble between them, Joe left the zoo, claiming that Jeff threatened his life.
“I Don’t Think We’re Done Blowing S*** Up Today.”
Something viewers probably never expected to hear in a docuseries about tigers was the main man himself explaining they had more to blow up. Joe Exotic's wild behavior quickly becomes evident the further into the series you get and eventually you realize that anything goes when it comes to Joe.
As well as blowing things up for fun, or more often to mock Carole Baskin in his videos about his nemesis, Joe is shown to be fairly loose when it comes to rules of any kind, be it food dates, gun control, or drugs.
"I'd Say She Found A Way Out, Wouldn't You?"
Somehow, Joe Exotic got a hold of the infamous Carole Baskin's diary, and he read it aloud on his internet show. The two have had a long battle between them that started with Carole claiming that Joe abuses his animals. Things only got more heated and personal from there.
One issue that Joe tends to harp on is Carole's husband's disappearance. He and many other people believe that she fed him to her tigers, and he even made a music video with a look-alike Carole that showed her feeding a tiger from a tray with mannequin body parts on it.
“We Say No to Drugs, Because Drugs Make Your Teeth Fall Out and You Get Really Ugly and Don’t Have Any Friends.”
The above quote is Joe Exotic's attempt at telling children to stay away from drugs because they are bad for you, of course, Joe decides to emphasize the risk of losing teeth and friends over any serious health conditions that may arise or the possibility of overdoses.
Ironically, it is shown in the documentary that Joe Exotic happily supplied his husbands with drugs, with John Finlay being very open about his use of methamphetamines in the past. However, Finlay has stated his loss of teeth was due to genetics rather than an overuse of drugs.
"I'm In A Cage. You Know Why Animals Die In Cages? Their Soul Dies."
Allegations were brought up against Joe involving abuse of the animals and a murder-for-hire plot against Ms. Baskin. Supposedly, he shot five of his tigers, but he claims that they needed to be put to sleep. He also allegedly gave a man $3,000 to kill Carole, but Joe says that he was set up.
Many people testified against him, and many others don't believe that he had it in him to hire a hitman. Either way, a jury trial found him guilty of all charges, and he has been sentenced to 22 years in jail.
“I’d Shoot You Before I’d Shoot My Cat.”
While at first glance this quote might seem quite endearing, pertaining to the idea that Joe loved his big cats so much that he'd rather shoot a person before he shot them. However, when you remember that one of the crimes Joe was sentenced to prison for was violence against tigers, including killing them, you have to wonder how safe humans really were around him.
Additionally, there are even parts of the docu-series where viewers see footage of Joe threatening to shoot the tigers when he gets angry with them or feels that they are being too aggressive towards him.
“Your Whole Audience Will Say, ‘Oh My God, That Guy Has a Mullet!’”
One of the biggest understatements to ever come out of Joe Exotic's mouth is this memorable quote. While his mullet is very noticeable, viewers are more likely to take notice of his flamboyant outfits, complete lack of professionalism and gun control, or his strange ongoing war with Carole Baskin.
Then there are the even bigger things that fans take away from the series, like the fact Joe has been imprisoned for an attempted murder plot and for violence against his supposed-beloved tigers. Seriously, his mullet is not the first thing that comes to fan's minds after watching this.