Netflix's newest documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has been in existence for less than a month, and it's already become a worldwide sensation. From the United States to Norway, everyone in their homes around the world has been indulging in the addictive chaos that is Joe Exotic, his zoo, and his story.
Joe was accused of some pretty big things during the show, and since it has aired, several people have come forward to make even more allegations against the tiger king.
Shot Someone's Horse
Producer Rick Kirkham lived at the zoo with Joe for over a year while filming a reality show, and he says that the documentary did not go far enough into the life and craziness of Joe Exotic.
In a recent interview, Rick talks about a horrifying story in which Joe promised an old lady that he would take care of her horse and give it a place to live, only to shoot it right after the woman left the zoo. Joe then fed the horse to his tigers.
Performed Inappropriate Acts
Joe has recently been accused by his niece Chealsi Putman of several different things. One of the allegations is performing sex acts with some of the animals at his zoo. She also reports that he even filmed it, but she says that she never saw the videos.
New CEO of the zoo Jeff Lowe also backs the claims made by Chealsi. Jeff says that an employee of the zoo found a flash drive that featured pictures of both Joe and his, then husband, John Finlay going around the zoo and having sex with different animals.
Is Racist
According to one of the show's creators, Rebecca Chaiklin, Joe Exotic said some very racist things during recording that she described as "unsettling."
While his racism was cut due to not having a contextual place in the docu-series, Rebecca shared one of the tamer statements, in which Joe said that it was "discrimination" that he, a white man, could not say the "n-word," even though people of color use the word in rap videos online. Rebecca thinks that his racist comments are probably due to ignorance and lack of exposure.
Is Afraid Of Tigers
Joe seems to be a real hot-shot in front of the cameras, like he has no fear. In actuality, according to Rick Kirkham, Joe was scared of the one thing we all associate him with - tigers.
Rick claims that whenever Joe would get into a cage with a tiger, the tigers were sedated or blind because Joe was too scared to do so otherwise. In the promo where we see Joe on his throne with a tiger next to him, Rick says that the tiger was actually leashed, and it belonged to an armed trainer who was behind the chair.
Used A Fire Extinguisher On A Tiger
Joe's niece Chealsi was one of the many to work for Joe at his zoo, and she helped out around the park occasionally from 1999 until 2017. During that time, she saw some incredible behavior that she describes as "one hundred times worse" than what was shown on Tiger King.
She says she witnessed Joe spray one of his tigers in the face with a fire extinguisher because the tiger was not doing what Joe wanted it to do. Chemicals found in fire extinguishers can be dangerous for people and animals, but Chealsi did not say what happened to the tiger afterward.
Shot His Tigers
One of the reasons that Joe is in jail now is because he has been charged with animal cruelty and abuse. He is accused of shooting at least five tigers, but Joe stands by the claim that they were sick and needed to be put down.
Rick Kirkham's story tells a different tale. Rick says that Joe shot animals "for fun," and he once saw Joe shoot a tiger in the head simply because he didn't like it. Could it be that the tiger really was sick, and Kirkham didn't know?
Hired Prostitutes With Embezzled Money
One could say that what someone does behind closed doors is their own business, but Jeff Lowe decided to make Joe's bedroom escapades public. Jeff says that Joe often hired men off of Craigslist to have sex with him, but he would sometimes kick them out before paying them the money they were promised.
Jeff also says that Joe was not making a lot of money at the time, and when he did pay the men he was with, the money had been embezzled from the zoo.
Froze Tiger Cubs
Joe's niece Chealsi sure had a lot to say about her uncle, and it turns out, there's even more. The thirty-year-old woman claims that Joe froze tigers cubs after they passed away, at least ten that she can remember. She suspects that the cubs were sold to taxidermists, but she does not know for sure.
It's unclear how exactly the small tigers died, but Chealsi didn't allude to suspicions that Joe had anything to do with the deaths.
Buried People On His Property
While people have accused Joe of killing animals, he may have been involved in covering the murder of innocent humans as well. Jeff Lowe claims that several different people have warned him that there could be bodies of people who were buried on the zoo property that he bought from Joe.
The story goes that a zoo employee, who was high on drugs, shot two protesters who tried to sneak into the zoo one night. Joe allegedly told the employees to dump the bodies into the construction site at the park, and then the bodies were covered in gasoline and burned.
Hired A Hit Man
The biggest and perhaps most infamous thing that Joe Exotic has been accused of doing is hiring a hit man to kill his arch rival Carole Baskin. Supposedly he would ask just about anyone he talked to if they knew anybody who could go down to Florida to "take care of a problem" for him.
Jeff Lowe and several other individuals got involved with the government to catch Joe trying to hire a hit man, and while funds were exchanged between Joe and a man who he supposedly hired, Joe says that he is innocent and was tricked.