The Untold Truth Of Joe Exotic's Business Partner Jeff Lowe
There were so many, er, quirky real-life characters in Netflix's Tiger King that it may have been tough to keep track of everyone and their part in the wild story. Here's a brief rundown of the major players: there was Joe Exotic, the zoo owner's multiple husbands, Exotic's nemesis, Carole Baskin, and celeb-connected Doc Antle.
Additionally, there were also an array of staff members, including Saff Saffery, the employee who lost his arm in a tiger attack, and finally, Jeff Lowe, a man who likes Las Vegas, ladies, and wearing a bandana under his hat. He was also the person who eventually took over Exotic's G.W. Animal Park when the former owner transferred it into Lowe's name so that he wouldn't have to hand it over to Baskin as part of a legal case. But there's much more to Lowe than what you saw in the docu-series.
Lowe turned up on the scene a few episodes into Tiger King and impressed Exotic with his lavish lifestyle. It wasn't long before Lowe became Exotic's business partner and started to make changes at the animal park. However, not everything about Lowe was exactly as it seemed. Frankly, there's a lot more to this man that what we saw on the screen.
Jeff Lowe was sued by Prince
When Jeff Lowe walked into Joe Exotic's life, he appeared to be some kind of savior who was ready and willing to help bolster the animal park's finances with his own personal fortune and connections. However, it turns out that Lowe's situation wasn't as stable as he made it seem.
When Lowe first met Exotic, he "was already embroiled in legal battles," according to Digital Spy. The outlet notes that "[i]n 2007 he was even sued by Prince for allegedly selling clothes with his trademarked symbol on them." The following year, he "pleaded guilty to federal mail-fraud charges" for pretending to be "an employee of the Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse charity in order to obtain $1 million worth of merchandise that he later resold." Lowe even stirred up legal issues when he brought big cats to a market that he ran, Beaufort Liquidation, but was found not guilty in that particular instance.
Fans of the docu-series will also remember him getting in trouble for bringing tiger cubs into Las Vegas casinos and attempting to run a bus service that enticed riders by offering cats onboard. As bad as all of this is, Lowe may have been involved in something much worse.
Jeff Lowe may have been involved in the murder-for-hire plot
Joe Exotic is currently serving a 22-year sentence for, among other charges, attempting to have his perceived nemesis, animal sanctuary owner Carole Baskin, killed in a murder-for-hire plot. Meanwhile, Jeff Lowe — who allegedly "beat up and strangled his first wife," per Screen Rant – wasn't even called to testify at Exotic's trial, according to Digital Spy. That being said, Lowe may have been more involved in the scary situation than we knew.
"In late August [2017], James Garretson [a local business owner] stopped by Joe's office, where Lowe pulled up a map on a computer that detailed Baskin's property in Tampa," according to Texas Monthly. "'[Lowe] started showing me easy ways to kill her,' Garretson said later. Lowe noted Baskin's favored bike paths, pointed out the location of the gift shop at her sanctuary, and showed images of her house, which sat isolated at the edge of an inlet."
However, "[l]ater that same month, according to Garretson, Lowe suggested he call Baskin behind Joe's back and ask if she wanted to purchase the zoo. Lowe said that if the zoo sold, he'd give Garretson $100,000." That didn't come to pass, but it also didn't stop Lowe from pushing forward with his animal park endeavors.
Jeff Lowe's new partner lost his license to run an animal park
Jeff Lowe went on to work with another business partner, Tim Stark, in order to open a new animal park around the border of Texas, as seen in Tiger King. What viewers also saw was the relationship break down when the two men faced friction over money and responsibilities. Beyond that, on Feb. 3, 2020, Stark lost his license to run an animal park when the USDA ruled that he had "willfully violated the AWA (Animal Welfare Act) on multiple occasions," according to the Courier Journal.
Lowe has even used Facebook to go after both of his former partners, writing in a now-deleted post (via Digital Spy), "I will always believe that our biggest contribution to the animal kingdom was helping the feds take down monsters like Joe Exotic and Tim Stark." That's, perhaps, why Lowe is now solely working with his wife. Yes, that's right, Lowe is still running the animal park where we saw all of the docu-series action go down.
Jeff Lowe isn't happy about 'Tiger King'
Jeff Lowe and his wife, Lauren, who was also seen in Tiger King, are still the people who you'll find running the animal park that used to be Joe Exotic's home. And while the Netflix hit brought Lowe (and everyone else that was featured) their 15 minutes of fame, it turns out that he's not happy with the now-viral docu-series.
"They touched on about 10 percent of the story and, you know, the portrayal of us stealing the zoo from Joe was very unfair because we came here to help him, we got it back on its feet," Lowe told The Media Exchange (via CNN).
"We left to move away because we didn't want to be in a zoo in Oklahoma," Lowe went on to claim, "so the notion that we tried to steal the zoo from him is just ridiculous." Perhaps about as ridiculous as everything else that we witnessed in Tiger King?