Tiger King star pleads guilty to trafficking animals and laundering money
It has now been five years since the documentary first captivated audiences when it aired in March 2020 during the peak of Covid-19.
The infamous series offered a peak behind the curtain of dealers and conservationists of big cats, focusing specifically on the feud between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin.
Oklahoma native Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is currently serving a 21-year federal prison sentence for trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin.
Now, however, Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle – who was a central figure – could be facing a similar fate in jail.
Antle, who owns private zoo Myrtle Beach Safari, appeared in the first season of the documentary and was the star of the third season.
His zoo was renowned for earning hundreds of thousands of dollars by allowing customers to pet and hold baby animals, such as lions, tigers and monkeys, many of whom were still being bottle-fed.
Antle would also reportedly sometimes ride into tours on an elephant.
But, after pleading guilty in November 2023 to trafficking animals and laundering money, he could now be facing 10 years in prison.
The federal charges brought against him came to light after the Tiger King series aired, and he has remained on bail since his arrest in June 2022.
Prosecutors said he sold or bought cheetahs, lions, tigers and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork.
It has also been alleged that Antle laundered more than $500,000 that an informant told him was being used to get people into the U.S. illegally to work.
After listening to his phone calls, the FBI reportedly heard Antle say during a phone call: 'I had to get a monkey, but the people won't take a check. They only take cash. So what do you do?'
It is not yet known what the specific punishment will be sought by prosecutors and any defence arguments for leniency remain undisclosed. More Trending
Three other people who pleaded guilty in his investigation have received either probation or a four-month prison sentence.
This comes after Exotic announced he had got married yet again in April despite currently being behind bars.
The 62-year-old revealed he has got married to fellow inmate Jorge Flores Maldonado, 33.
View More »
Sharing a photoshopped snap of them wearing suits to mark the occasion, he wrote: 'Never been more proud of someone. Meet my husband Jorge Flores Maldonado.'
Got a story?
If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Small screen, big investment: TV episodes have become way too long
The big debate over The Bear – apart from the one about whether it's still any good or not, which is another matter entirely – regards its genre. Once the darling of the Emmys, The Bear initially called itself a comedy, despite not really having any jokes or levity or fun in it. And this was down to some bad maths about its duration. The Bear was a half-hour show, and sitcoms are half-hour shows, therefore The Bear must be a sitcom. However, in its fourth season, The Bear was no longer a half-hour show. Of its 10 new episodes, none are less than 30 minutes long. True, one is 31 minutes and three more scrape in under 35 minutes. But one is 38 minutes long, two more stretch on for 40 or more, and one somehow manages to be one hour and 11 minutes long. Now, it's important that we shouldn't only pick on The Bear here. Plenty of shows are at it. Netflix's new Lena Dunham series Too Much is equally elastic when it comes to runtimes, with episodes lasting anywhere between 31 and 56 minutes long. And then there's Stranger Things, which ballooned from an average runtime of 50.6 minutes in season one to 86.8 minutes in season four. And it's only going to get worse. From all the chatter about the upcoming final season of Stranger Things, it sounds like you should reasonably expect to die of old age at some point before the end of episode four. In a way, this was to be expected. The death of scheduled linear television means that programmes no longer have to staunchly adhere to set runtimes. A sitcom no longer has to be exactly 22 minutes long, because it doesn't have to duck out of the way for mandatory ad breaks and wrap up so that everyone can watch the news. At first, that was considered a good thing. For once, creativity got to trump commerce. Writers and producers were finally able to tell the stories they wanted to tell, with no concessions to be made to schedulers or advertisers. It meant that we, the viewers, were being gifted uncut, unfiltered access to the minds of the greatest storytellers known to man. What a treat. Except now it is starting to become increasingly apparent that the minds of the greatest storytellers known to man might benefit from the service of a good editor. Although they're free to make episodes of any length they like, that almost universally means that they're going to be longer, not shorter. This isn't necessarily a good thing. There's a reason why Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt started to suffer in quality as it went along. The first (best) season was initially made for NBC, and so it was tight and fast and broadcast-ready. Subsequent seasons were made for Netflix and, although episodes only gained about five minutes extra each, those five minutes were full of weaker jokes that would have almost certainly been cut for time. And that's just five minutes. At least one new Stranger Things episode is rumoured to run over two and a half hours. It sounds absolutely exhausting. Especially if, like a lot of us, you're quite time-poor. On an average evening, once dinner has been cooked and plates have been washed up and the children have finally been wrestled to bed, you might only have a maximum of two hours to watch everything you want to watch before you need to sleep. And with that in mind, it's hard to see these extended runtimes as anything other than robbery. There are so many brilliant things to watch at the moment, but we can't watch everything we planned because The Bear has decided to make a meandering, plot-free 70-minute wedding episode. Already I'm planning to carve up Stranger Things like a frozen meat raffle and dole it out in pieces over the course of a couple of months. It's the only way I'll survive it. Please, creators, I'm begging you to stop the bloat. It's something that The Bear especially should remember. The greatest episode it ever made – the one that initially put it on the map as a force to be reckoned with – was Review, the penultimate episode of season one. Filmed in a single claustrophobic take, it was a masterpiece of escalating tension. And it was only 21 minutes long. Those 21 minutes contained more action, more character work, more story, than this season's 71-minute slogathon. This is the direction we should be heading in: tighter, less fatty, more exciting. Throughout season four, The Bear repeatedly cut to a sign reading 'Every Second Counts'. It's time it started taking its own advice.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Michigan attorney general says she's investigating a company promoting 'twin flame' romance
DETROIT — State and federal authorities are investigating an online company that pledges to help people find their eternal love, Michigan's attorney general said Tuesday. Search warrants were executed at two homes in northern Michigan's Leelanau County where Twin Flames Universe is based, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Twin Flames, which is operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, has been the subject of unflattering documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It offers to help people find a lifelong romantic partner — a 'twin flame' — through a 'spiritual journey.' Nessel said there are allegations that Twin Flames exerts 'coercive control' over its members across the U.S. through illegal acts. She didn't disclose what investigators were seeking with search warrants. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment through the Twin Flames website, but it was not immediately answered. Twin Flames has a variety of products, from a $9.99 Kindle book to the $8,888 'everything package,' with access to hundreds of hours of videos, guided meditation and other lessons. In March, Twin Flames posted a statement defending its mission. 'We take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members. After a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions, we are saddened that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect,' Twin Flames said.
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Netflix axes hit reality show after ten seasons as fans left 'heartbroken'
Netflix has confirmed that the award winning reality series Queer Eye is coming to an end after its tenth season which is currently in production Netflix has axed its hit reality series Queer Eye after six years on screens. The reboot show, which is Netflix's l ongest running unscripted series, recently saw a huge cast reshuffle with star Bobby Berk leaving after season eight and being replaced by Jeremiah Brent. Netflix confirmed the news on X: "10 seasons. Fab Five. One last go round. The final season of Queer Eye is officially in production." Queer Eye launched on Netflix in 2018 as a reboot of Bravo's 2003 series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the Mirror reports. According to Deadline, Queer Eye will return for a final tenth season with stars Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness and Jeremiah. Throughout its run, Queen Eye has been a huge success, with the programme being nominated for 37 Emmys, winning six between 2018 and 2023. Over the past nine seasons, fans have watched the stylist gang transform the lives of many men and women who were in need of a makeover. The unscripted reality show centres around the Fab Five, who are experts in various fields. The Fab Five comprises of relationship expert Karamo Brown, fashion expert Tan France, food and wine expert Antoni Porowski and hair and makeup expert Jonathan Van Ness. Bobby Berk was previously a part of the group, where he played the role of interior design expert, but was replaced in 2023 by Jeremiah Brent for season nine. Boddy, 43, later said that he stepped down from Queer Eye to work on "multiple other projects". When questioned about a rumoured fall-out between him and co-star Tan, he told the Mail Online: "There was a situation, and that's between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show." News of the show being axed has left devastated fans rushing to social media to express their disappointment. One wrote: "The end of an era." Another added: "Can't believe we're saying goodbye. Thank you, Fab Five, for changing lives — and hearts". A third heartbroken viewer wrote: "I feel robbed, I deserved 10 more seasons of Jeremiah. You just cant give him to us and take him away this quick". Someone else echoed: "The tenth season of Queer Eye will be the last. That sound you hear breaking is my heart." Queer Eye made a star of hair stylist Jonathan Van Ness, who flaunted their impressive weight loss earlier this year. The 37-year-old shared a before and after snap to Instagram, explaining to their 5.3M followers how they had dropped a whopping 66 pounds. They said: 'I want to note, glp-1s have been a huge help.' GLP-1 is often marketed as Ozempic, and is used to treat type 2 diabetes. They added: 'I have also made major other changes. First was my diet obvs, second was way less alcohol, and finally group pilates which has been most pivotal. "My mental health and overall feeling is a different universe since last year and the biggest change was group fitness.' A release date for Season 10 of Queer Eye is yet to be announced.
