Tiger King’s Joe Exotic Says He’s ‘Ashamed’ Of Keeping Wild Animals In Cages

The eccentric star of Netflix’s Tiger King, Joe Exotic, has admitted he’s ‘ashamed’ of himself for keeping wild animals locked in cages for years.

Although he was asked how he feels about the popularity of the show and his rivalry with Carole – more on that later, I promise – the main takeaway from the interview was his feelings of regret regarding his old life.

Go sit in a cage with your animals for a week. I mean, when I left the zoo and sent my chimpanzees to the sanctuary in Florida and imagined what my chimpanzees went through for 18 years, I’m ashamed of myself.

Later on in the interview, Exotic vowed to draw a line under his rivalry with Carole and wants to clear his name, stating: ‘I’m done with the Carole Baskin saga. It’s now time to turn the tables and Joe get out of jail a free man and exonerated from all these charges.’

He also expressed his regret that he wasn’t able to see for himself how popular the docuseries is, adding: ‘You know it would be nice if I could actually see me being famous out there but I’ve seen these same four walls for a year and a half now.’

The zoo owner cleared up any doubts viewers might have as to whether he’s still with his fourth husband Dillon too, saying he ‘can’t thank [his] husband enough for standing beside [him]’ throughout all of this.

If you somehow haven’t managed to watch Tiger King yet, the seven-part Netflix documentary follows Exotic as the owner of GW Exotic Animal Park, a 16-acre ranch in Oklahoma where he kept more than 1,200 animals.

While the show might seem like a simple animal documentary at first glance, with Exotic’s zoo home to an array of wild cats and bears, it soon turns into a ‘true murder-for-hire story’ when the zoo owner is arrested for plotting to murder Carole.

Joe is currently serving a 22-year sentence, but maintains his innocence.