If you've been online at all over the last week, I'm sure you'll know all about Tiger King, the new Netflix docuseries following Oklahoma roadside zoo owner Joe Exotic and his absolutely wild rivalry with animal rights activist Carole Baskin.
All puns aside, I mean wild — in the last two episodes, we see Joe arrested and convicted for attempting to hire an assassin and have Carole murdered.
Since the documentary premiered, several of its participants have come out with statements saying they weren't too happy with the portrayal of their characters and stories.
But as it turns out, not everyone involved in the documentary is unhappy with its outcome. In fact, Joe Exotic himself is apparently "thrilled" at how popular it's become.
In an interview with Lad Bible, Tiger King codirector Eric Goode revealed Joe had called him from jail after the documentary premiered and was "tickled pink" by the reaction.
Goode also told the LA Times that Joe has spent his time in prison "trying to be an advocate for criminal justice reform".
The filmmaker went on to tell Lad Bible that he had "mixed feelings" about his star.
He said:
I have empathy for Joe and there are many qualities that I found fascinating and endearing about Joe. But at the same time Joe did horrific things, and he was one of those people that would try to tell you what you wanted to hear. He's very manipulative — and smart in many ways — but in the end you know all of these people, including Carole, created their own little world within a world. Most of them are living outside of mainstream America.
Meanwhile, Goode's codirector Rebecca Chaiklin told the LA Times that they "can hardly talk to [Joe] without him mentioning the amount of press he’s getting".
