What happened to Tiger King interviewee Rick Kirkham, the television producer whose footage was lost at Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park? Kirkham appears throughout the Netflix docuseries, primarily to discuss a internet-based show he developed featuring Joe Exotic. "I knew that I could make him famous," Kirkham said while remembering a business opportunity that seemed like a good idea at the time. Tiger King released in March 2020, and has since become a worldwide streaming sensation.
Kirkham doesn't play a prominent role in Tiger King, but he does appear to be one of the docuseries' voices of reason. He speaks declaratively while discussing his intentions for Joe Exotic TV, though the filmmakers doesn't provide much information about his background. Tiger King features several fascinating subplots, from Joe's marriage to men who are allegedly straight to a faux music career designed to boost his public image. Kirkham appears in the same setting throughout Tiger King, wearing all black and smoking cigarettes on camera.
Interestingly, Tiger King doesn't acknowledge that Kirkham is a former Inside Edition reporter, and also the subject of a 2016 documentary, TV Junkie, that's based on his life experiences, including a crack cocaine addiction. Still, just the man's bravado alone adds an extra layer of intrigue, certainly when the docuseries reveals that Kirkham's studio burned to the ground less than a week after a confrontation with Joe.
As of 2020, Kirkham lives in Bodo, Norway. He married Kristin E Rosøy Kirkham in 2018, and reportedly works as a reporter for RealReels. Since Tiger King's release, Kirkham has been making the interview rounds to discuss the Netflix docuseries, and told Extra's Billy Bush that his version would've been "more violent" and would've exposed "a lot more things." He speaks primarily about the infamous studio fire, and claims that it happened just two days after Joe changed the locks upon learning he didn't own any of the footage. "Joe was terrified to get in cages with tigers," Kirkham says, and describes the Tiger King subject as a "surreal, one-of-a-kind figure... a very evil guy at heart." He also believes that Joe was "110 percent" capable of murdering Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue.
On Lights Out with David Spade, Kirkham expands about Tiger King and the studio fire during a 16-minute interview. He claims that footage existed of Joe murdering animals for fun, including tigers that he didn't want anymore. Kirkham also discusses the dark consequences of working at Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, revealing that he needed six months of therapy and one week of in-patient treatment to cope with what he'd seen. "I knew that I had sold out my own soul," Kirkham says, and that "it really messed with my head."