Tiger King star Joe Exotic’s father Francis Schreibvogel has reportedly died from coronavirus.
The Netflix star, who rose to fame last year when the Netflix show about him and Carol Baskin called Tiger King went viral, is currently in prison in the USA.
American publication TMZ has reported that the star’s loss is now “dovetailing with a trip to D.C. for a pardon that would allow Joe to attend his dad’s funeral”.
The publication claims that Francis died following complications from the deadly virus which has killed over a million people worldwide.
It also alleged that the funeral is taking place on Saturday in Oklahoma, and Joe is desperate to pay his respects to his father.
Joe Exotic is serving a sentence for plotting to kill Carole Baskin (Image: Netflix US/AFP via Getty Images)
The star’s legal team is said to be flying to Washington D.C. today in an urgency to get Joe to the funeral in three days time.
Joe’s head lawyer Eric Love told TMZ that they will fly in his plane with a Joe/’Tiger King’ wrap to make it a show.
He also said he has a “big meeting” with someone “White House/pardon-related”, but refused to say who.
Love said if a pardon isn’t given – which can only be given by the President of the United States, Donald Trump – there is a plan B.
Joe with his dad Francis Schreibvogel (Image: joeexotic/Instagram)
They will go to a judge and ask for day pass so he can attend the funeral.
Joe is currently in jail for plotting to murder his arch enemy, Carol Baskin.
The show Tiger King, directed by Eric Goode, centres around the pair and their fiery feud as Joe owns a makeshift zoo in America which homes thousands of wild animals, mainly tigers.
Carol, who is an animal rights activist, also owns many tigers at a sanctuary which she claims to rescue.
They have been hellbent on tearing each other down for years but it ended with Joe, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, being convicted in April 2019 of 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire.
In the final episodes of the Netlfix show, Joe Exotic’s long-running anger at Carole Baskin ends in a plot to allegedly inflict violence against her.
At the time he was still being held in Grady County Jail. However, on January 22, 2020 he was sentenced to 22 years in prison and was moved to FMC Fort Worth prison.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
