Celebrities who have visited ‘Tiger King’ zoos

The pop culture loving community was introduced to Joe Exotic in 2024 thanks to Netflix’s viral documentary series, Tiger King . The dazzling real-life story involved big cats, drug use, polygamous gay marriages, an attack that cost an employee’s arm, a missing husband who could have been fed with caged creatures, and a murder-for-hire plot that ended. with a prison sentence of 22 years. And that’s just a quick recap of the story that was almost too sensational to believe!

It also happened that not only was a zoo featured, but three very different animal parks. Joe Exotic (whose real name is Joe Maldonado-Passage) was the owner of what is now known as The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, a zoo that barely managed to survive and used questionable methods to stay in business. There was also Doc Antle’s much more successful Myrtle Beach Safari, as well as Carole Baskin’s popular Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary. Each boasted a crew of genuine characters (humans and animals) and more than a few dubious problems, as well as captivating controversies.

While that’s enough for you to want to watch the documentary series if you haven’t turned yourself in yet (or if that makes you want to dive back into the lion’s den), what might make you even more interested is the fact that there are plenty of celebrities, Including the following actors, musicians, and athletes, have visited the zoos from Tiger King .

Miranda Lambert faced a backlash in April 2024, when she posted photos on Instagram that were shown with Joe Exotic. The country singer can be seen smiling as he poses with the documentary series star and Saff Saffery, the park staff member who (spoiler alert) lost his arm during a tiger attack, as well as one of the ex-husbands by Exotic, John Finlay. “Here’s a little keepsake for you guys,” Lambert captioned his post as he added a hashtag that read “#WayTooPrettyForPrison,” referring to Exotic’s sentence behind bars.

Although Lambert may have thought it was a good idea to partner with the shocking show, fans were not impressed. The star, who “is a well-known animal advocate and founder of the MuttNation Foundation,” according to La bota , took to Twitter to explain the truth behind the photos.

“Background: During Hurricane Harvey, the MuttNation team went to Houston to help relocate existing shelter dogs to free up separate animal shelter space for their owners,” he wrote. After explaining that “[s] a guy named Joe volunteered his trailer and his staff,” he clarified that he was not a park guest and “didn’t even know he had tigers,” adding that “OBVIOUSLY … he would never tolerate animals They were mistreated “Maybe he should have revealed these facts when he first posted the photos so fans were up to speed on the whole story before the reaction broke out.

Beyoncé, who was the voice of a big cat in the 2019 Rey Leon , is another famous figure who apparently likes to spend time with cute (albeit occasionally dangerous) animals that would naturally be found living in the wild. But when she wanted to go a little crazy herself, she didn’t head to Joe Exotic’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. Instead, the “Run the World” singer visited Doc Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari. The park’s Instagram account shared photos of Bey in August 2019 with the caption, ‘Go back to when @beyonce visited us! »

From the photo collection, it seems clear that Beyoncé was enjoying the opportunity to hang out with a chimpanzee whose name is apparently Vali. It may or may not have been a coincidence that the singer wore a jacket reminiscent of one worn by Michael Jackson, famous for owning his own chimpanzee, which was for Bubbles. Beyoncé also offered Vali a snack by holding something between her teeth so that the two ended up mouth to mouth.

While that would have been an exciting visit in itself, Beyoncé then spent time with a normal tiger cub and a young white tiger, but when she fed the predator, she chose to do so with a bottle of milk instead of coming face to face. with its fierce fangs, which is totally understandable.

Floyd Mayweather is another star who likes to interact with captivating creatures outside of her professional life. Just look at the photo of him feeding a flamingo on a beach in Aruba and try not to be jealous (you can’t do it). “They say I live a pretty interesting life,” the image captioned, and that certainly seems to be an accurate statement. You will probably agree when you discover that you also spent time at the Doc Antle animal park.

On February 19, 2019, Antle shared a photo of himself on Instagram showing the now famous star of the Netflix documentary series chatting with the boxer while the owner of the Myrtle Beach Safari cradled a baby tiger in his arms. “@Floydmayweather the champion and me talking about tigers @myrtlebeachsafari #savethetigersavetheworld”, he wrote next to the photo.

While Mayweather did not share that photo on his own, he did post a picture of himself in the park kneeling behind a rather carefree looking cheetah. And frankly, considering that he’s in the presence of a wild predator, Mayweather looks quite relaxed. However, we are sure it was ready to take off in an instant if that cat became too loud.

NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. may be known for his skills while playing on the field, but on January 6, 2019, he shared a video of himself on Instagram that saw him playing with animals at Doc’s zoo. Antle. The athlete spent time petting both a tiger and a cheetah, while also tossing a soccer ball with a chimpanzee. While the clips may have seemed fun, many people left comments expressing disappointment by the sports star for putting himself in a dangerous position while also pointing out that the creatures featured would be better off in the wild. And they weren’t the only ones annoyed by what they saw.

“These sensitive and highly abused animals belong to their families in the wild, they are not promoted as props by shameless zoos,” PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said in a statement on its website. While calling the video a “cheap publicity stunt,” the organization added that they are “confident that Odell Beckham Jr. had no idea that the seedy safari park where this young chimpanzee is kept has a long history of violating the law. federal »and» urg [ed] all, including Beckham… to avoid cruel facilities that exploit animals «.

Beckham didn’t answer the call and still has the post on his Instagram page, so he doesn’t seem to regret his visit to the controversial animal park.

Those who have seen Tiger King Learn the story of Carole Baskin and her second husband, Jack “Don” Lewis. After the man disappeared, many suspected that Carole had committed murder and (eek!) Fed his remains to his tigers. The owner of the animal sanctuary has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so after the release of the documentary series as interest in the situation has been renewed. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister even asked for new leads at the same time as telling TMZ that “he is convinced that a person could NOT have committed the 1997 murder”, adding that “someone must have helped and someone received a payment “.

Suspicion about the situation has become so viral that Kim Kardashian took to Twitter asking millions of followers what they think about Don’s disappearance. This, in turn, prompted Carole’s current husband, Howard Baskin, to record a YouTube video not only to address the circumstance, but also to communicate with Keeping up with the reality TV star Kardashians .

“I doubt Kim will see this video, but if I were to spend an hour with Carole, I know I would have her answer and I know what it would be,” he said. “And of course we would welcome your visit if you wanted to.” Considering that Kardashian is working to become a lawyer, this may be a case that you should investigate.