The Tiger King not only lost his best chance at freedom when Donald Trump’s long-awaited forgiveness never came, he lost his marriage.
Joe Exotic’s husband, Dillon Passage, confirmed in a series of Instagram posts on Friday (March 26) that he is filing for divorce from the Netflix star.
“The presidential pardon that we all expected never came and our hopes were dashed. I continue to support Joe and I want to be there to support him, ”he said in a post.
“It was not an easy decision to make, but Joe and I understand that this situation is not fair for any of us,” he added in a follow-up post.
Exotic’s lawyer, Francisco Hernandez, said TMZ that he is upset after talking to him in prison.
The tiger merchant was so confident that he would receive a presidential pardon in the last days of the Trump administration that his team said a limo was parked near the prison to escort him home.
Mr. Exotic is serving a 22-year sentence in Fort Worth, Texas, after being convicted in 2019 for trying to hire a murderer to kill his rival Carole Baskin, in addition to numerous animal abuse charges.
On his last day as president on January 20, Trump pardoned 143 people, including rappers Lil Wayne and Kodack Black. But Exotic joined Julian Assange as notable absences from the clemency round.
Fans of the eccentric personality expected a pardon after Trump seemed to be amused by the suggestion during a press conference in April last year.
When asked if he would consider forgiveness, the then president said that he knew nothing about the matter, but that he would “take a look”.
Mr. Passage said that her husband was “obviously having a hard time in prison”, and no one could blame him for that. But at 25, he needed to consider his future.
“I’m sure he wants me to lead a full life as you all do for the people you love,” he said in a post.
“It is something that none of us expected, but that we will take day after day. We are still getting along and I hope it stays that way, ”he added in a separate post.