Tiger King's Joe Exotic is requesting that a new judge looks over his civil lawsuit because the current judge has a bias against him.
Per TMZ, Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, filed a motion this week requesting that Judge Scott L. Palk recuse himself from a lawsuit that Exotic has filed. Joe and Palk are familiar with each other because the judge has overseen some of Exotic's past lawsuits. As a result, he feels like Palk has a skewed view of him because he's an avid animal rights activist as well as homophobic.
This has reportedly reared its head in proceedings with Joe claiming that Palk has exhibited a "hostile" and "agitated" attitude towards him. Also, Joe claims that the judge has made unethical remarks towards him that makes it seem like Palk won't give him a fair trial.
"I will make sure you are never around another animal the rest of your life," Joe claims the judge said to him. "You were trying to broker a pair of lions to support your husband from jail."
Joe denies that accusations. Yet he did add that even if they were true it would be completely legal in the State of Texas. This behavior has led Exotic to believe that Palk has a "grudge" against him, prompting him to seek a new judge to preside over his case.
In March, Joe filed a $94 million lawsuit against several federal agencies that aided in his arrest and prosecution. Per the Associated Press, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the assistant U.S. attorney, and several witnesses are named as defendants in this case. Joe's case is built on the belief that he was handpicked to be prosecuted because he was "an openly gay male with the largest collection of generic tigers and crossbreeds."
