'Tiger King' Star Joe Exotic Disappointed Over Donald Trump's Pardon Snub, Carole Baskin Happy
Joe Exotic and his team roared in disappointment after President Donald Trump snubbed his request to be pardoned.
Earlier this week, Exotic's team said they were confident that the "Tiger King" star would finally receive a pardon.
"We will be standing by waiting for President Trump's confirmation of the Tiger King Joe Exotic," private investigator Eric Love, one of the zoo operator's legal counsel, told Metro.
The former zoo operator even reportedly booked a stretch limousine as they waited for a last-minute pardon.
Love also prepared supplies for "hair, makeup, wardrobes" for the felon, plus a doctor and mental health expert to see him in the event of his release.
Finally, on Wednesday, President Trump marked his departure from the White House by granting 73 pardons and 70 commutations.
The now-former POTUS said back in April 2020 that he would take a look at pardoning the convicted felon. However, things happened differently as he did not issue Joe Exotic's pardon.
Because of the unexpected result, the team revealed that all of them--including fans--were disappointed with President Trump's snub.
"We are as disappointed that the President did not sign Joe's pardon, as we were confident yesterday that he would," the team ranted to TMZ. "It's only because of his fans that the pardon was even a possibility."
Joe Exotic, Team Not Giving Up
President Trump never spoke about his possible pardon since last year. However, Exotic continued to publicly ask for it in the past few weeks.
About two weeks ago, he pleaded to be pardoned in time to attend his father's funeral.
Unfortunately, it did not happen and he was not able to see his father for the last time.
In other news, the pardons' recipients included former White House adviser Steve Bannon, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Kodak Black and Lil Wayne, among others.
While the aforementioned personalities will be wild and free again, Exotic will stay behind bars.
Despite that, his team said that they are not giving up. They also pledged not to leave their client's side until his freedom is gained.
After the news emerged, Love spent two hours on the phone with Exotic, and he made him listen to his Direct Appeal Oral Arguments.
Carole Baskin Reacted!
The greatest rival of Exotic was one of the first people to react to the pardon snub.
In the same report by TMZ, Baskin expressed her gratitude for not granting the zoo owner a pardon.
"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," she said.
Baskin and Exotic already have bad blood against each other. It even worsened after the Netflix documentary alleged that the Big Cat Rescuer was involved in her husband's disappearance.
