UPDATE
11:14 AM PT — Carole Baskin tells TMZ … she’s thankful Joe was not granted a pardon. She also said, “If I understand the notice I got from the prison system, he’s already gotten another month added to his sentence by not obeying prison rules.”
Carole added, “If Joe really had a change of heart, he could do what Mario Tabraue did to lessen his 100 year drug trafficking conviction to 12 years by turning state’s evidence against the other animal exploiters.”
The Tiger King is not free to run wild again … President Trump snubbed Joe Exotic’s request to be pardoned, and he and his team aren’t taking it well.
What seemingly started as a pipe dream way back in April 2020 — when Trump said he’d “take a look” at pardoning Joe — turned out to be exactly that. Joe’s team tells TMZ … “140 million Joe Exotic fans had a hard time getting out of bed this morning.”
Yeah, that ‘Tiger King’ viewers stat might be inflated — and assumes all of them were rooting for Joe’s release — but you get the point … they’re bummed.
His team added, “We are as disappointed that the President did not sign Joe’s pardon, as we were confident yesterday that he would.” Joe’s team adds … it’s only because of his fans that the pardon was even a possibility.
As we reported … shortly after Trump’s comment, Team Tiger — led by P.I. Eric Love — produced a video asking to free Joe and hopped in a customized tour bus to head to D.C. in hopes of pitching Trump for a pardon.
Those early efforts didn’t yield success, but Love and the team were persistent … and he returned to D.C. in September to hand-deliver Joe’s pardon request. As we reported … the 257-page case to Trump included Joe’s claims that he’d been sexually assaulted in prison.
Again, there was silence from Trump about a possible pardon, but Joe continued to publicly plead for one as recently as 2 weeks ago … when he asked to be pardoned in time to attend his father’s funeral.
It didn’t happen, and Joe’s patience and persistence was all for naught … because he didn’t make the cut for Trump’s list of 73 pardons and 70 commutations. In other news — Steve Bannon, Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and the co-founder of Death Row Records all did.
As you know … Exotic’s been doing hard time for the murder-for-hire plot, and though he’s maintained his innocence, he’ll remain behind bars.
Team Tiger says they’re not giving up though … and spent 2 hours on the phone with Joe this morning listening to his Direct Appeal Oral Arguments. Love says they “will never leave Joe’s side and will continue to work until his freedom is gained.”
Originally Published — 10:14 AM PT
