UPDATED 5/19, 1:30 p.m. ET: Joe Exotic's legal team is visiting the White House on Tuesday, with goal of getting their client pardoned, TMZ reports. Additionally, Exotic reportedly attended a Trump campaign event near Oklahoma City in 2016, and even paid $1000 for a meet-and-greet.
According to TMZ, Exotic left the event to smoke a cigarette, but was denied re-entry by the Secret Service. The outlet's sources say Exotic was booted because he was acting "starstruck" over Trump.
See original story below.
Tiger King subject and impending Nicolas Cage source material Joe Exotic's legal team will be taking their campaign for a presidential pardon to the Washington D.C.
"Well, hey, greetings from Fort Worth, Texas," Eric Love, the guy leading the charge, said in a statement to TMZ this week that was filmed in front of the notorious pardon-promoting tour bus. "Just letting you know we're leaving out Monday the 18th at 7 a.m. out of Forth Worth, Texas. We are heading to Washington D.C. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, son!"
The report, however, doesn't claim that there's been any official-esque meeting set up between Mr. Exotic's legal team and Trump, who we can only hope has far more important metaphorical Filet-O-Fish in need of frying at the moment.
Earlier this month, Love—a former cop turned private investigator who's now handling all business and legal matters for Mr. Exotic—released a pardon campaign video that was certainly not short on theatrics.
"This will be a case of redemption," Love said in the video, which also featured comments from lead counsel Francisco Hernandez, whose "He is the victim" pull quote made for easy headline material. "Justice must be served. President Trump, we are asking you today: please free Joe Exotic."
This month has also seen the announcement that Cage, as mentioned up top, has indeed signed on to portray Mr. Exotic in an eight-episode scripted series that pulls from Leif Reigstad's Texas Monthly article "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild."
