'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic is in coronavirus isolation in jail, husband Dillon Passage says
FORT WORTH, Tex. -- Joseph Maldonado-Passage -- better known as Joe Exotic -- of "Tiger King" is taking extra precautions during the coronavirus pandemic, according to FOX News.
Dillon Passage, the husband of Maldonado-Passage, revealed on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show that Maldonado-Passage has entered "a COVID-19 isolation" amid serving his 22-year sentence. He's being held at Fort Worth FMC, an administrative security federal medical center.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage seen in a Santa Rosa County Jail booking photo. (Santa Rosa County Jail)
“We speak like three to five times every day, but since he’s been moved to this new facility, they are putting him on a COVID-19 isolation because of the previous jail he was at, there were cases,” Passage said of his husband, who is in his late 50s. “I’ve yet to speak to him since he moved.”
When asked whether Maldonado-Passage is in an individual quarantine, Passage said: “From what I know, yes.”
Passage, 24, is the fourth husband of Maldonado-Passage and was featured briefly in the Netflix docuseries, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."
In the same interview, Passage address the state of his relationship with his husband and whether he is still "in love" with him.
"I do love Joe," Passage said. "He's been there for me through my darkest times and I'm not just gonna dip out and abandon him when he needs me most."
"Tiger King" follows Maldonado-Passage in his exploits as a zookeeper, country musician, aspiring politician and arch-rival of fellow big cat enthusiast Carole Baskin.
Maldonado-Passage is serving 22 years in prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin.
He has reportedly filed a $94 lawsuit, asking for nearly $74 million in loss of personal property, 18 years of research, and the full care of 200 generic tigers and crossbreeds, as well as $15 million for false arrest, false imprisonment, selective enforcement and the death of his mother Shirley,