Joe Exotic, also known as the Tiger King, has historically been unlucky when it comes to love. One of his exes accidentally shot themselves while another left Joe after sleeping with multiple women from his park and getting one pregnant. Joe and his most recent ex, Dillon Passage, seemed to initially have an amicable divorce, but it has since turned somewhat bitter. Despite this, the former owner of Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park has seemingly found love in the most unusual of places: prison.
Joe Exotic Loves to Love
Throughout the Netflix documentary ‘The Tiger King’, one facet of Exotic’s life that remained ever-important was love, or at least, physical intimacy. Before dabbling in polygamy, Joe’s first (unofficial) husband meant the world to him. Brian Rhyne and Joe met in a bar in the 80s and quickly hit it off.
They lived together, did drugs together, and eventually got non-legally married at the same bar where they met. Brian was with Joe through his highs and lows until he tragically died of AIDS in 2001. This tragedy wrecked Joe, whose view on love appeared to have hardened as the relationships that followed were nowhere near as deep as what he had with Brian.
Everyone deals with tragedy differently. Joe Exotic handled his grief by remarrying a violent man, who is now a convicted sex offender, named J.C. Hartpence. The two’s “love” did not last long as their toxic tango became too much for Joe. Following this, Joe entered a polygamous three-way with then-husband Travis Maldonado and boyfriend John Finlay. The tri-union would end in tragedy due to Maldonado’s “accidental” self-inflicted death in 2017 and Finlay’s shotgun getaway with his secret girlfriend, who is currently his wife.
A Love Fizzles Before One Grows
62-year-old Joe continued to look for love until finding one last love before his current one. Joe Exotic’s most recent failed relationship was with Dillon Passage. The pair met online barely two months after Maldonado’s death and even left the zoo behind for a life together in Florida. However, Joe Exotic’s attempted murder of Carole Baskin led to a 22-year sentence of which the couple lasted for less than two years before they called it quits.
With a track record like Joe’s, one may think he would give up love entirely. Especially when he actively has cancer and will not get out of prison for decades. But love hath found a way in the form of a fellow inmate named Jorge Marquez. Jorge Marquez (33) was serving time for immigrating to the United States illegally when he and ‘The Tiger King’ met. The two appear to be extremely happy with Exotic stating in People Magazine: “He has gotten me through so much fighting cancer under these conditions.”
However, luck appears determined to mess with Exotic’s love life. Reports differ, but Jorge may have been ripped from his husband’s side and deported back to Mexico, where he was born. Exotic is outraged because he claims that Jorge is not a criminal and is being punished simply because he was born in Mexico. It has gotten to the point of desperation where he is pleading to the current president for a pardon and/or asylum so the two can live happily ever after.
Ending Notes
The one who is known as ‘The Tiger King’ has sadly had enough romantic tragedy to fuel an author’s imagination for years. After what may have been his first love dying in his arms from AIDS, to another “accidentally” killing themselves, Joe has had it rough. With several star-crossed loves, a reprise from tragedy seemed impossible for the fallen king. That was until he found what may be his true love in the form of a man virtually half his age. The two still have many obstacles to overcome, and only time will tell if they are up for the challenge.
