Since Tiger King came out on Netflix less than two weeks ago, a number of the bigger personalities featured in the film, including fellow big cat owners Carole Baskin and Doc Antle, have had issues with how they were portrayed by the docuseries' filmmakers.
While their complaints are numerous, the main contention they both seem to have is that stories about them were sensationalized in order to make the series, well, more of a freakshow. If you watched the show, you probably know it's possible to enjoy it while also being skeptical of some of the more farfetched claims like, for instance, the one about Baskin feeding her rich ex-husband to a tiger.
But, according to producer Rick Kirkham, the series is "so accurate it's frightening." For those unaware or perhaps in need of a refresher, Kirkham lived at the zoo for a year and worked with Exotic following a more mainstream career in television. His commentary appears throughout the series via interviews.
Speaking on Wednesday's edition of TMZ Live, Kirkham goes on to say that "if anything the documentary doesn't go far enough to show how crazy Joe was."
To back that up, he recalls an instance where "a poor old woman" drove to the ragtag zoo with "a horse trailer" to see if Joe could care for her horse. As Kirkham remembers, the lady was crying and asked Joe if he was able to look after her horse because the animal was too old for her to care for properly.
Kirkham says that Joe agreed and assured her that there would be a pasture for the horse to run in.
Instead, however, Kirkham says that Joe shot the horse in the head almost immediately after the woman left, He then cut the animal up to feed to the tigers. Kirkham claims that this anecdote was a good example of who Joe was "on a daily basis."
In addition to telling that story, Rick made it clear that he's no fan of Baskin either. As he sees it, she's a hypocrite because she profits off of showing off caged tigers just like Joe, but he did add that he doesn't think she's abusive to animals like the series' main star.
Check him out, in his own words, in the segment below:
