Joe Exotic reveals ‘aggressive’ cancer diagnosis, wants prison release
Joe Exotic — the former star of Netflix’s “Tiger King” true-crime series now in prison for a murder-for-hire plot against his rival — says his prostate cancer has taken a turn for the worse.
The locked-up former zookeeper, 58, whose full name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, revealed the results of a recent biopsy in a tweet Wednesday.
“Doctors called me in today to break the news that my prostate biopsy came back with an aggressive cancer,” he tweeted while referring to fellow “Tiger King” star Carole Baskin.
“Carole will have her own party over this!” the tweet continued. “Say a prayer everyone & be my voice.”
Maldonado-Passage, 58, is currently serving 22 years in prison for orchestrating a botched murder-for-hire plot to kill Baskin. Prosecutors said he paid a man $3,000 to kill Baskin in Florida in 2017. He was also convicted of multiple wildlife violations related to killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying records.
An Oct. 27 open letter written by Maldonado-Passage said he wasn’t looking for pity.
“What I need is the world to be my voice to be released,” he wrote. “They have the proof I did not do this and there is no reason for the US Attorney to drag this out so I can go home and get treatment on my own and enjoy what life I have lefty with my loved ones.”
“Say a prayer please,” the letter concluded. “Be my voice please.”
An attorney for Maldonado-Passage, John Phillips, confirmed the diagnosis.
“He and I spoke Monday with both of us in tears at a point,” Phillips tweeted. “He needs freedom by so many definitions and we are [diligently] working towards that.”
Phillips said he’s consulting experts regarding the disgraced zookeeper’s medical and legal issues.
“More coming soon,” Phillips tweeted Thursday.
Maldonado-Passage announced in May that he had prostate cancer while calling on President Biden to release him on compassionate grounds. Phillips told The Post at the time that he had not been diagnosed and was awaiting the results of a biopsy.
The second season of “Tiger King” is set to debut on Netflix on Nov. 17 and Baskin is suing the streaming service, demanding that footage of her be removed. She wants a judge to block footage of her and her Big Cat Rescue organization in the upcoming episodes.
Baskin told Page Six in May she never agreed to be a part of the second season.
“I told [producers] to lose my number,” she said. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
Maldonado-Passage has repeatedly accused Baskin of murdering her ex-husband, Don Lewis, in 1997, but she has denied those claims and has never been named a suspect in his death.
Maldonado-Passage, meanwhile, is due to be re-sentenced following a court order in July. His proper sentencing range should have been between 17 ½ to just under 22 years, the panel wrote, not just under 22 years to 27 years in prison.
