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Tiger King's Creators Say Joe Exotic's Racism Was Cut From The Netflix Documentary

Photo credit: Sue Ogrocki/AP/Shutterstock
Photo credit: Sue Ogrocki/AP/Shutterstock

From ELLE

Tiger King is easily one of the most baffling shows Netflix has added for some time.

But it seems the show couldn't include everything, even a rant from tiger keeper Joe Exotic about him not being allowed to use the N-word as a white man.

Speaking to THR, the show's creator Rebecca Chaiklin explained why the clip had been cut from the documentary series.

Photo credit: Facebook
Photo credit: Facebook

"Joe is a racist, I would say categorically," she said. "He said things when we were filming that were very unsettling."

She continued: "They didn't have a context in the story, but he has a lot to learn. I think most of it was ignorance and not having a lot of exposure, and I think he even evolved over the course of the time that we filmed."

John Goode added of Joe, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage: "I would say it's very important for people to know this, that there seems to be an overwhelming amount of empathy for [Joe's current husband] Dillon.

Photo credit: Netflix
Photo credit: Netflix

"We had empathy for Joe, but Joe did a lot of horrible things. Joe committed some really serious crimes and Joe was not only cruel and inhumane to his animals, he was cruel to the people around him.

"I think it's very important for people to understand that Joe is an actor and he tells people what they want to hear.

"As much as we have some empathy for Joe and found Joe to be such an incredible character – this mullet-wearing country singer in Oklahoma – he did a lot of horrible things."

Joe is currently serving a 22-year sentence for 17 counts of animal cruelty, as well as attempting to hire a hitman to kill his archenemy, Carole Baskin.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is available to stream on Netflix.


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