Joe Rogan praised Tiger King’s Joe Exotic as “fascinating” and revealed that the TV-famous criminal often contacts him from prison.
Joe Rogan hosted Tiger King filmmakers Eric Goode and Jeremy McBride during his JRE podcast on September 17. During this, the group talked about Joe Exotic, who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence.
Notably, Exotic was arrested in 2019 and charged with 17 federal counts of animal abuse, as well as two counts of attempted murder for hire, as he plotted to kill animal activist Carole Baskin.
Despite being imprisoned, Rogan said Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, “constantly” messages him in hopes that Rogan helps him get exonerated from his sentence.
“He was constantly, after I talked about Tiger King, I get messages from that guy,” Rogan said. “I don’t know how he’s giving me messages. I’m assuming it’s somebody who works for him.”
“But, I get messages all the time. Like, ‘You’ve gotta help get him out, put him on your podcast,’ do this, do that,” he added.
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McBride then noted that Exotic has “communication in jail,” adding, “Somehow, he’s able to get his phone. He’s doing video calls.”
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Rogan even praised Exotic, saying he’d have quite the career if he wasn’t in jail. “He’s just got all this personality and he’s so interesting and fascinating. It’s really unfortunate. If he wasn’t in jail, he’d be a very popular person.”
Viewers of the JRE podcast episode were quick to comment on their support for Exotic, saying he should be freed from prison. “Save Joe Exotic! He was a funny guy,” wrote one.
Another fan added that Goode and McBride’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness was the “greatest television show” they had ever seen.
Though it looks like Exotic won’t be released any time soon, the podcast trio did mention that his name was allegedly part of a “presidential pardon” list.
However, Exotic was re-sentenced in January 2022 and won’t be out of prison until 2035. “If I ever make it out of this alive, all I want to do is move on with my life,” Exotic said at the resentencing in Oklahoma City federal court.
As for Rogan, when he’s not talking with Goode and McBride, he’s discussing his opinion about the upcoming fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Not only did Rogan tell his podcast listeners that he’d be “bummed” if Paul KO’d Tyson, but he also said he wished the entire match wasn’t going to occur.
