Tiger King: Joe Exotic’s First Husband (That Netflix Doesn’t Include)

Netflix documentary Tiger King features Joe Exotic and three of his husbands – but his first marriage isn’t included. Tiger King is an Internet phenomenon, and most of that attention is focused on Joe Exotic, an openly gay man who once owned the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. Joe Exotic is a larger-than-life character who built a family of misfits at his private big cat zoo.

Among the subjects of Netflix’s documentary are three of Joe Exotic’s husbands, all young men who identified as straight but caught Joe’s eye anyway. John Finlay left Joe and has since married a woman named Stormey; Dillon Passage is still married to Joe; and Travis Maldonado tragically took his own life via accidental suicide. Tiger King devotes a lot of time to these three of Joe’s husbands, but is first isn’t touched upon.

Netflix’s Tiger King leaves out Joe Exotic’s time as a security guard at a bar in Texas. In an article about Joe Exotic and his rival, Carole Baskin, Intelligencer reports that Joe met Brian Rhyne at the bar. Despite gay marriage being illegal at the time, Joe and Brian moved in together and lived as a married couple. They even held a marriage ceremony at the bar where they met. It was with Brian that Joe Exotic began his animal collection in earnest. During their time together, Joe built the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma. In 2001, Joe Exotic’s relationship with Brian Rhyne came to a tragic end. Brian, who lived with HIV, suffered complications related to the disease. As his health deteriorated, Joe did what he could to keep his husband comfortable – such as allowing Brian to die in his own home. While Joe was in the process of moving Brian back to their house, Brian died. The effects on Joe were life-altering.

Viewers of Tiger King are drawn to Joe Exotic because of his whimsical look and unshakeable confidence. At least some of that persona was built in the ashes of Brian Rhyne’s death. Joe became bolder in his efforts to attract new men, and his ownership of the big cat zoo played a key role in bringing younger men – many of whom identified as straight – into his world. It seems Rhyne’s death was critical in forming the Joe Exotic who would later threaten Carole Baskin’s life in Tiger King.

Tiger King leaves out a lot of Joe Exotic’s life story, which itself could fill a full series. By focusing on Joe Exotic’s three most recent husbands, however, Netflix is overlooking a major turning point in his life. It’s clear that Joe Exotic was always something of an eccentric, but Rhyne’s death seems to have fundamentally altered his behavior and outlook. Information about Joe’s first marriage feels critical in understanding him as a person.

Despite this, there is one thing to remember: Joe Exotic is a convicted criminal. As Tiger King becomes part of Internet culture, Joe becomes more of a cartoonish figure. He may be a punchline, but he is a dangerous one. This may have factored into Netflix’s decision to leave out the story of Joe Exotic’s first marriage. Humanizing a potentially violent abuser of animal rights would be a step too far. Even Tiger King couldn’t fully cover Joe Exotic’s tragic personal history – including the death of his first husband. While it would have shed light on a pivotal moment in the formation of Joe, it would have also excused the impact of his crimes.

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