Another day, another peculiar detail pertaining to the life of Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness star, Joe Exotic. Mild spoilers ahead.
As it turns out, some of the exotic animals that perished in the blaze at Joe Exotic’s Oklahoma zoo actually belonged to Michael Jackson, an article from the Los Angeles Times confirms. The reptiles (seven alligators and one crocodile) were formerly housed in Jackson’s Neverland Ranch before moving to Exotic’s Oklahoma zoo following the ranch’s closure in 2005.
Local news network KXII quoted Exotic at the time as saying “The building can be replaced, the equipment can be replaced, but Michael Jackson’s alligators cannot be replaced.”
Although the link to Michael Jackson was never mentioned in the Netflix docu-series, one of Exotic’s “husbands” John Finlay (they were never legally wedded) confirmed the connection in an interview with David Spade, which you can watch below.