What happened to the cast of Tiger King? 5 years later the saga continues

Tiger King was released five years ago today (Picture: Netflix)

Today marks the five-year anniversary since Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness came into our lives and changed it forever.

The Netflix documentary became an instant hit as the world went into lockdown in 2020 and quickly broke streaming records as the globe couldn’t take their eyes of Joe Exotic, his rivalry with Carole Baskin, and all the cats and kittens in between.

From Exotic’s music videos to his presidential campaign, to Carole’s murder conspiracy, the series had it all.

But what have the stand out stars been up to since Tiger King gripped the globe? Five years on, the saga continues.

Joe Exotic Get personalised updates on all things Netflix

Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.

Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.

Joe Exotic was imprisoned before the Netflix saga was released in 2020, and is still serving a 21-year sentence five years on.

The former zookeeper was charged with animal abuse and a murder-for-hire plot against his rival Carole Baskin at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Texas.

Joe Exotic is serving a 21-year prison sentence (Picture: AP)

Over the years his team have worked to get him pardoned by President Donald Trump, who Exotic previously voiced his support for. During his first term Trump said he would ‘take a look’ at Exotic’s case, but there’s been no update since.

During his first term, Exotic took to social media to denounce both Trump and Joe Biden for failing to pardon him.

However, in prison Exotic’s life has changed, as he announced his engagement to fellow inmate Jorge Marquez in October, and now refers to him as his ‘husband’.

Marquez is in prison for immigration-related offences, including being in the US illegally.

In a recent X post, Exotic put forward a fresh plea for his release.

‘You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we’ll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me,’ he wrote, alongside a picture of his husband.

‘No matter what happens, he’s my husband, and we’ll never abandon each other. This bond is that strong.’

Carole Baskin

Carole Baskin took the internet by storm after the release of Tiger King, thanks to the wild conspiracy that she killed her husband Don Lewis and fed him to the tigers – an allegation she strongly denies.

The Big Cat Rescue founder went viral again in 2021 after being savagely tricked into sending a birthday message to paedophile Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile, which left her feeling ‘horrible’.

Following the Cameo drama, she competed in Dancing With The Stars alongside the likes of Catfish host Nev Schulman and rapper Nelly, and performed her first routine to Eye Of The Tiger.

During the opening episode, the family of Carole’s ex-husband aired an advertisement appealing for information on his disappearance.

However, the animal activist didn’t last long in the competition and was the second celebrity voted off, behind former NBA star Charles Oakley.

Carole told Metro a few years ago she’s ‘so sick’ of talking about Tiger King, and she’s been notably absent from social media since 2022.

She sold her Big Cat Rescue sanctuary for $19.5million (£15m), moving the animals to a sanctuary in Arkansas.

Carole competed on Dancing With The Stars (Picture: Getty)

In January this year her husband Howard Baskin hit out at unfounded theories Carole’s ex husband Don Lewis could be buried somewhere in the old site.

‘Only a moron would even speculate about searching the property,’ Howard told The U.S. Sun.

Lewis, who previously owned the sanctuary, was legally declared dead five years after he disappeared in 1997.

There is no evidence to suggest he was murdered, or any suggesting Carole was involved in any way.

Carole has fiercely denied Exotic’s baseless claims that she was responsible.

Dillon Passage

Exotic’s ex-husband Dillon Passage has been enjoying fame since the release of Tiger King and even struck up an unlikely friendship with the Too Hot To Handle cast.

Dillon was Exotic’s third husband, and the paid finalised their divorce in January 2023 after tying the knot in 2017. Dillon announced they had split in March 2021, while Exotic was in prison.

Now Dillon has found love again, and is engaged to a navy veteran called John Devarti.

On finalising their divorce, Dillon celebrated and said: ”It’s been a battle and tens of thousands of dollars spent over the past year and a half trying to be released from my own kind of prison but it was all so worth it!’ he added.

‘Excited to move forward with my life and with my amazing partner John @devarti_j who supports me in all things! Next step: engineering school!’ he concluded.

Dillon Passage and Joe Exotic were married (Picture: Netflix)

They got engaged in August 2023 after John slid into Dillon’s DMs and asked him to the beach.

Their public wedding website says they spent New Years 2021 together and juggled a long distance relationship, before John moved to Texas to be with Dillon. A year later, Dillon returned the favour and moved to Florida, where John’s family ‘accepted Dillon with open arms’.

John proposed to Dillon on the waters of Rainbow River in Florida. It’s unclear when their wedding will go ahead – or if it’s already happened – but their gift list includes kitchen blenders, lounge chairs, dog bath tubs, and drinks dispensers.

In 2021 the person running Exotic’s Twitter account accused Dillon of using him for ‘fame and money’ and not answering his calls.

He wrote: ‘Money destroyed my entire family. I won’t allow it to kill my soul. You win, Dillon, Jeff Duncan, Carole.

‘Come March 22nd for Travis’s Birthday I am going to keep his promise I made the day he died. I don’t need the fame, the money or the bulls**t, you can have it all.

‘It’s pretty sad to be in prison and still mean f**king nothing that ya can’t even answer a phone. I see where I stand.’

Dillon defended himself on social media in a lengthy post.

‘Joe is obviously having a difficult time in prison and I don’t think any of us can fault him for that,’ he wrote. ‘I’ve never spoken poorly of Joe, through the ups and the downs and through his good and his bad.

‘I see through all of this and recognize and realize it for what it is; a man in prison just trying to do his best.

‘The presidential pardon we were all waiting for never came and our hopes were dashed. I remain in support of Joe and want to be there for him.’

Doc Antle

Myrtle Beach Safari owner Doc Antle slammed Netflix for how they portrayed him after Tiger King came out.

The Netflix star, 63, pleaded guilty to animal trafficking and money laundering in 2023 for overseeing the sale or purchase of lion cubs, tigers, cheetah cubs and a young chimpanzee – all protected endangered species – according to the US Justice Department.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dr. Bhagavan Antle (@docantle)

He was cleared of animal cruelty charges, but faces a five-year sentence and a $250,000 (£202,000) fine. Officials accused him of trying to hide animal payments as donations to his not-for-profit outfit.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said he ‘held himself out as a conservationist’ but ‘repeatedly violated laws protecting endangered animals’.

He was due to be sentenced in August 2024, but it was cancelled without a reason being given.

Jeff Lowe

Jeff Lowe ended up taking over Exotic’s zoo in 2016, but it shut for good in August 2021 when Jeff forfeited his licence.

The closure came two months after Jeff was given 120 days to vacate the property, after a court ruling awarded Exotic’s rival Carole the zoo.

In 2021 he was accused by the US government of cruelty to animals with the Department of Justice alleging ‘recurring inhumane treatment and improper handling’ of tigers and lions.

Jeff Lowe was banned from ever exhibiting animals again in the US (Picture: Netflix) He and his wife Lauren moved to Mexico and opened a zoo there (Picture: BACKGRID)

Although he didn’t comment, he had previously accused the government of making ‘false accusations’ about him.

In 2022 he and his wife Lauren were banned from ever exhibiting animals again in the US.

Lowe told TMZ he was moving his zoo to Mexico on a 35-acre property. He said it would showcase big cars, as well as lemurs, sloths, giraffes and two elephants.

Now on social media he and Lauren document their life surrounded by animals in Mexico at their Tiger King Park, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.

Rick Kirkham

After telling Joel McHale that he doesn’t believe Exotic will leave prison alive in the Tiger King special, TV producer Rick Kirkham has largely slipped under the radar.

He made a number of accusations about life at GW Zoo immediately after the release of the Netflix series, including how Exotic ‘shot at him three times’.

One month ago, Rick posted on his Instagram account about being in hospital for three months for ‘alcohol’, which he turned to because of PTSD from his house burning down and being ‘held at gunpoint’.

He revealed: ‘I’m not embarrassed to admit I’ve gone through a 3 month hospitalisation for alcohol..and my PTSD that led me to the problem.

‘I’ve got the best psychiatrist, psychologist and doctors helping me now to go further with PTSD treatment, stemming from being held hostage at gunpoint years ago and then my house burning down on top of me, killing my beloved dog and nearly killing me.

Rick Kirkham recently opened up about suffering with severe PTSD (Picture: Netflix)

‘The alcohol program has been quite successful but the PTSD emotional breakdowns persist. So I’ve decided with all the doctors and Kristin’s support to return to hospitalization again next week to focus on PTSD therapy.

‘Decades of 1st hand accounts of death and crime as a television reporter have come to haunt me very badly. But I am at the moment calm, ok, and coherent.

‘I now have to attack the underlying plague of PTSD. And I will. Please understand I don’t respond to a lot of caring messages and posts but I will be back, stronger and hopefully able to control the emotional breakdowns.
Thank you for the many communications of support. I will beat this.

He also opened up about previously being addicted to cocaine.

When asked if there were times he was scared while working on Tiger King, Rick told Metro: ‘Oh, several times. It wasn’t just with Joe. There was one time… The first time he shot at me, I had no idea, I just heard this loud pop and it scared the hell out of me.

‘I turned around, and his gun was still smoking. He shot at my feet and he’s just laughing his ass off. “Scared the hell out of you, ha ha ha, next time I’ll get you between the eyes. Don’t mess with me.”

‘I watched him shoot several animals just because he was p***ed off. He had 12 acres on that park that he was God.’

Saff Saffery 

Since the series, zookeeper Saff Saffery has been keeping a relatively low profile, explaining that he’s been ‘picking himself back up’ following the 10 years he spent working with Joe Exotic.

Saff told Metro.co.uk in 2020 that he regrets that he didn’t help prevent a lot of things.

Saff Saffery is ‘picking’ himself back up after working with Joe Exotic (Picture: Netflix)

‘I participated in the cub petting,’ he said. ‘Sh*t, I was one of the main handlers that did the cub interactions and, looking at that now, I don’t know if I ever genuinely considered what effects there would be on that cub.’

Saff went on to say: ‘[I thought] I was sharing that world…and educating people on what I do and why I do it.’

He added: ‘Like I said, I was selfish. All I wanted was to be able to work with these animals.’

Saff is loved up and living with his partner and their children.

John Finlay

Exotic’s ex-partner John Finlay underwent an epic transformation after Tiger King by getting a new set of teeth.

He’s kept a relatively low profile since appearing on the show, however has kept fans updated on Instagram in the years following the show, revealing he underwent surgery on his shoulder in 2021.

John Finlay is loved up and living on a ranch with his wife (Picture: Netflix)

Last we heard, John was also loved up and is living life to the fullest, saying in a 2022 post he’s in ‘the most love [he’s] ever been’ with his wife, living on his ‘gorgeous ranch’.

‘I’m in love with my amazing fiancé, have beautiful doggos, horses, and chickens, and amazingly supporting friends and family who love me for me,’ he wrote in another post.

‘It has taken me a long time for me to realize that I deserve love but more importantly that I LOVE ME too.’

This article was originally published on March 20, 2021 for the one-year anniversary.

Tiger King is available to stream on Netflix.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.