Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Casting your minds back to the height of the pandemic, nothing had us gripped quite like Tiger King.
As we were locked up in our houses and running out of things to watch, the Netflix gods graced us with Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, inviting us into the lives of Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Doc Antle, and all the rest.
While Netflix has spun out the idea for two more seasons, things have never been as 'wild' as season 1.
We're not sure we'll ever be able to scrub Baskin's animal-themed wedding, Exotic's songs claiming Baskin fed her husband to the tigers, and Saff getting his arm bitten off by tigers out of our minds.
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Tiger King ended with Exotic (real name Joe Maldonado) going to jail, and while he's since asked President Donald Trump for a pardon, he continues to serve a 21-year federal sentence.
Maldonado's imprisonment comes on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and one count of attempted murder for hire (reduced from two) in a plot to kill Baskin, although he continues to appeal for an early release.
It seems everyone has an opinion on the continued release of the Epstein files, and never one to shy away from making his feelings clear, Joe Exotic has thrown in two cents.
Sharing an artificial intelligence picture of himself, banged up with a tiger and notable names from the Epstein files. The image also features Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and what appears to be an AI version of former President Bill Clinton.
Clinton was notably featured in a December 2025 release of the files, although a spokesperson for the former POTUS has maintained his innocence.
Complaining that he's the only one behind bars, Joe Exotic's picture says: "Look who's the only one in prison but not in the Epstein files."
Maldonado isn't technically correct on this one, as Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving 20 years behind bars due to her involvement with the late financier.
The Department of Justice has sent a controversial letter to Congress that lists all the names in the Epstein files, although it's important to remember that just because someone is mentioned, it's not an accusation of wrongdoing.
Either way, it's true that Joe Exotic isn't mentioned in the Epstein files, although we wonder whether Epstein would’ve watched the Netflix hit if he'd been alive when it was released.
Responding to his own post, Maldonado said he made the image because he was supposed to get a blood infusion but claimed the prison couldn't afford it, adding: "How is it legal to keep a human in prison and not be able to provide or pay for medical care?"
He went on to call out the US Department of Agriculture and PETA, claiming they'll "sue you for failure to provide vet care for an animal if you’re broke?"
Using the hashtag #freejoeexotic, he also directed fans to a site calling for his pardon.
With Joe Exotic having previously supported President Trump, and the POTUS' name appearing numerous times in the files, critics were quick to call this out.
Others gave him the idea of more merch to sell, with one person writing: "I’d buy this on a tshirt."
Another added: "Oh my God just when I think you can’t get any funnier 😂."
A third joked: "Damn Joe, had you been IN the files, you woulda gotten the pardon!!"
Some were less supportive of the Tiger King, with one person concluding: "Now is not the time to be making enemies."
As the eyes of the world continue to pore over the Epstein files, the ‘Tiger Ring’ remains incarcerated.
