Joe Exotic slammed as ‘categorically racist’ by Tiger King makers after ‘n-word’ video resurfaces
‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic was jailed for trying to have an animal rights activist murdered. (Netflix)
The makers of the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King have claimed that Joe Exotic is “categorically racist”.
This week, a video surfaced on Twitter of Exotic going on a racist rant, in a tiger enclosure, of course.
In the video he is seen saying: “What’s going on in this country, it’s absolutely pathetic. I can’t say the n-word, but you can get on YouTube and watch any black man’s rap video and they’re calling each other the n-word.
“What the hell, is this discrimination? I’m white and I can’t say the n-word and they can?”
Ummm so I found this earlier today… pic.twitter.com/gd3kBsq6d0
— Terry Jane Paul (@InThierry) March 31, 2020
Tiger King makers deliberately chose not to include Joe Exotic being racist.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the co-directors of Tiger King, wildlife conservationist Eric Goode and documentary filmmaker Rebecca Chaiklin, addressed the racist comments made by Joe Exotic.
Chaiklin said: “Yes. Joe is a racist, I would say categorically. He said things when we were filming that were very unsettling.”
Asked why they were left out of the docu-series, she added: “They didn’t have a context in the story, but he has a lot to learn.
“I think most of it was ignorance and not having a lot of exposure, and I think he even evolved over the course of the time that we filmed.”
Goode said that it was important for people to know about Exotic’s racist views, as many people have expressed a huge amount of sympathy for him.
He said: “We had empathy for Joe, but Joe did a lot of horrible things. Joe committed some really serious crimes and Joe was not only cruel and inhumane to his animals, he was cruel to the people around him.
“I think it’s very important for people to understand that Joe is an actor and he tells people what they want to hear.
“As much as we have some empathy for Joe and found Joe to be such an incredible character — this mullet-wearing country singer in Oklahoma — he did a lot of horrible things.”
