What's Really Going On With Joe Exotic's Health?
At the tail end of President Donald Trump's term in January 2021, "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic was among the high-profile individuals campaigning for a presidential pardon. Although rapper Lil Wayne received one, Exotic was snubbed and left in prison.
Private investigator Eric Love, who spearheaded Exotic's quest for freedom, was so confident in obtaining a pardon that he even had a limo waiting for Exotic just half a mile from the prison, according to Metro U.K. "This time tomorrow, we're going to be celebrating," Love told the paper. "We have good reason to believe it will come through." Love was planning to turn Exotic's release into a full-blown production, hiring professionals to do the convict's hair, make-up, and wardrobe, and even had his client record a thank you message for the president.
Now, just four months later, Exotic is once again pleading for a presidential pardon, claiming he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to the New York Post. So what exactly is going on with his health, and does he really have a shot at getting a pardon?
Joe Exotic does not yet definitively have cancer
In a series of tweets on May 14, 2021, Joe Exotic announced that he has prostate cancer. "The prison has approved testing to verify what stage it is in. My body is tired, I have lost a tremendous amount of weight, the mouth sores are out of control, I throw up more than I eat," he wrote. He then once again pleaded for a pardon, writing, "I need the world to help [my lawyer John Phillips] get President Biden, VP Harris and the Attorney General to listen to the evidence and ... sign the pardon that Trump left behind so I can go home and get proper medical care and proper food."
Phillips later clarified to the New York Post, however, that "Joe has not been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is still awaiting a biopsy," noting that "it is premature to say he has prostate cancer even if his doctors are saying he has all the signs."
While Exotic had previously been "a really big Trump supporter," according to his husband Dillon Passage, he appears to have now switched his allegiance to current president Joe Biden. After being snubbed by Trump, Exotic tweeted, "I was too innocent and too GAY to deserve a Pardon." TMZ reports that Exotic lost respect for Trump after his response — or lack thereof — to the January 6 Capitol riot. Exotic's legal team first reached out to the Biden administration back in January. Only time will tell if one Joe will pardon the other.