His Many Husbands
While Tiger King covered his most recent (and concurrent) relationships with John Finlay and Travis Maldonado, these were not his only marriages. His first husband was a cowboy named Brian Rhyne, who passed away in 2001. Many of Joe’s zoo employees said Rhyne’s death greatly affected Joe and triggered some of his erratic behavior. He next married a man named J.C. Hartpence, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison for murder.
His Many Husbands
A Not So Magical Act
Tiger King briefly mentioned that Joe Exotic performed magic shows with his animals, including a magic act that involved having a tiger “magically” appear onstage. His then-assistant, Aaron Stone, revealed that when Joe tried the trick, the tiger was too scared of the noise from the pyrotechnics, so he chose to spray paint a sheep black and orange and use it in his act instead. Apparently, audiences were not fooled at all, and the sheep was just as scared.
A Not So Magical Act
