“Tiger King” star Joe Exotic, also known as Joe Maldonado-Passage, has said that he and his partner, Jorge Marquez, will go to Mexico if he is pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Joe Exotic outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Exotic shot to fame in 2020, as the star of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King. He is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence after he was convicted in 2019 on multiple charges, including two counts of hiring hitmen to murder fellow big cat rescuer and wildlife activist Carole Baskin.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File
He was also convicted of killing tigers and selling them across state lines. He has made multiple pleas to be pardoned by Trump. Exotic has criticized his conviction and maintains his innocence.
What To Know
Exotic shared his relationship with fellow inmate Marquez back in October of 2024 in a post on X. He wrote, “Meet Jorge Marquez he is 33. He is so amazing and is from Mexico. Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum or we be leaving America when we both get out. Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago.”
You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we’ll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me. No matter what happens, he’s my husband, and we’ll never abandon each other.
This bond is that strong. pic.twitter.com/FYal90Tehz— Joe Exotic (@joe_exotic) March 18, 2025
Marquez is serving time for immigration-related offences, CBS reported.
In a post on X on March 18, Exotic said that if he is let go from prison, he and Marquez will both go to Mexico. He said that this will “save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me.”
Exotic then wrote in a reply to his post, “It would save the taxpayers both ways.”
In later posts, Exotic has referred to Marquez as his husband, but their marriage has not been officially confirmed by Newsweek.
Exotic has made multiple pleas to be pardoned by Trump on his social media, and recently made a renewed push for a presidential pardon, citing his failing health and evidence he says exonerates him.
Exotic said that he had prostate cancer back in 2021 and later said in July 2022 that he had gone into remission. In January of this year, he told Newsweek in a phone call that his prostate cancer is back out of remission, and that he has cancer in his left lung. He said at the time, “I’m not going to live to carry out this sentence. I would love to go home.”
In a post on his Instagram account on March 5 he wrote: “Today is my birthday, you can pardon me now.
Exotic has been previously married five times. The most recent of which was to Dillon Passage, who he had met on a dating app and was featured in the Tiger King series.
The couple split in 2021, after nearly three and a half years together. Passage confirmed the divorce in a post on Instagram, writing “This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but Joe and I both understand that this situation isn’t fair to either of us.”
What People Are Saying
Joe Exotic, in a post on X: “You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we’ll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me. No matter what happens, he’s my husband, and we’ll never abandon each other.”
What’s Next
Whether Exotic will receive a pardon remains to be seen.
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