What's Really Going On With Cardi B And Joe Exotic?
With only a few weeks to go before the Season 2 premiere of the true-crime docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness," it seems the Netflix show's titular subject Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage is doing his best to use a new round of publicity as ammunition for finding a way out of prison. Exotic, who was convicted and given a 22-year sentence for his murder-for-hire plot against his nemesis, Carole Baskin — a saga "Tiger King" chronicled in detail — is, by all appearances, attempting to appeal to big names with clout in order to drum up support, including the likes of hip-hop artist Cardi B. Or is he?
In a post from Cardi B's official social media account on October 28, the 29-year-old retweeted what appeared to be a public message from an account claiming to be Joe Exotic's, albeit one that is not verified by Twitter. Cardi B's retweet contained a single question: "Wait is this the real tiger king?" And as inquiring minds want to know: well, is it?
A plea from Joe Exotic to Cardi B might not actually be from the 'Tiger King'
The initial tweet, ostensibly authored by Joe Exotic, contained a plea for help. "@iamcardib when you see the truth in Tiger King 2 I need you to rally Everyone together to be my voice of #freedom," read the tweet, followed by a number of other hashtags assigned to phrases such as "free joe exotic" and "tiger king." The tweet was accompanied as a caption for a handwritten note containing the same message; it is unclear as to whether the note and/or the tweet were authored by Joe Exotic, or whether they were the brainchild of another person entirely.
Though Exotic's appeal to Cardi B might seem random at first glance, it's not the first time their names have been linked. Soon after the March 2020 premiere of the Netflix docuseries hit, the rapper sent a series of now-deleted tweets which contained a statement promising a GoFundMe campaign launch to drum up funds with the endgame of releasing Exotic from prison. After TMZ published a quick report which found that GoFundMe's platform prohibits fundraisers for people convicted of serious, violent crimes, Cardi B backpedaled by deleting her posts, tweeting that they were made in jest. "Omg I was just playing," wrote the performer, who proceeded to qualify herself as a Joe Exotic stan. "I do love him tho and he deff needed better representation .oooooooooooooooooo here Kitty Kitty," she added.