Shaquille O’Neal is trying to distance himself from Joe Exotic after appearing in the “Tiger King” documentary on Netflix that has people buzzing.
The “Tiger King” documentary is about several eccentric people involved in the breeding and care of big cats in private zoos around the country, and their alleged unethical treatment of the animals. The main figure in the program is a man named “Joe Exotic”, who runs a private zoo in Oklahoma featuring many exotic animals. Joe Exotic is in prison serving 22 years for an alleged murder-for-hire scheme and some alleged animal abuse violations.
Shaq was shown in the program as a famous person who had visited the zoo.
Shaq later even gave a shoutout to Joe Exotic on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show. But the former NBA player says he didn’t know about any of the abuse by Exotic and that he is not friends with the man.
“I love tigers,” O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq“. “I was just a visitor. I met [Exotic] — not my friend. I don’t know him. Never had any business dealings with him, and I had no idea any of that stuff was going on.”
Shaq also said he stopped going to the animal park after learning about the bad stuff Exotic was involved in.
“People that know me know that I’m righteous. I don’t harm tigers. I love tigers,” Shaq said. “We found out that he’s involved with all the stuff, and then, actually, I stopped going.”
Despite the issues, Shaq said he binge-watched the show and acknowledged that “it’s actually a really good documentary.” We agree with that; Joe Exotic is a train wreck that you can’t take your eyes off of. And his style has led to some hilarious spoofs online.
