Joe Exotic, the larger-than-life Tiger King star, says he’s found love again—and tied the knot behind bars. The former zookeeper, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, posted a photo of himself and another man in suits, smiling beneath a floral trellis. Alongside the picture, he wrote, “Never been more proud of someone.
Meet my husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado.” It’s unclear whether the image is real or AI-generated. Exotic, who shot to fame in Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, is currently serving a 21-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He was convicted in 2020 on 17 counts of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire, after allegedly trying to have animal rights activist Carole Baskin killed.
Back in 2024, Exotic announced his engagement to Flores, then referred to as Jorge Marquez. He hinted the two might seek asylum or leave the U.S. once they’re free. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, he said, “We love each other very much, spend every minute of the day together…I buried two husbands, the third ran off with $2.6 million from Netflix… but Jorge is a very amazing young man.” This is Joe Exotic’s latest chapter in a long, complicated love story.
