The following article contains a discussion of abuse allegations that some readers may find upsetting.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was one of the most successful Netflix shows at the start of lockdown last year, so it comes as no surprise that filmmakers Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin returned to the scene of the crime(s) for a second season, Tiger King 2.
Joe Exotic (real name Joseph Allen Schreibvogel), who is in prison for the foreseeable future, is appealing his 22-year sentence for hiring someone to kill rival zoo owner Carole Baskin, as well as nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, among other charges.
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However, the new season focuses not on Joe, but on those who have become famous thanks to their appearances in the first season of Tiger King, from Joe's husband Dillon Passage to Jeff Lowe (who took over Joe's former zoo) and, of course, Baskin.
As the rogue's gallery of conspiracy theorists, amateur sleuths and ex-employees take their turns in front of the camera, in the first episode there is one person who makes more of an impact than all the others – Joe's estranged brother Yarri Schreibvogel.
While Joe has previously mentioned a brother, Garrold, who died in a car accident in 1997 (and whom Joe named his zoo after), he has been less forthcoming about his two sisters, Pam and Tammy, and older brother Yarri.
There's certainly no love lost between the pair, as Yarri reveals in Tiger King 2.
"I haven't seen Joe face to face in 20 years and don't want to," Schreibvogel says. "Because it ain't going to be pretty."
In the clip, he fires his rifle at a crude sketch of Joe (the bullet hits Joe's head).
"Joe screwed over a million people. I don't understand why all these bullshit lawyers ain't ever talked to the right people."
In the episode, Yarri gives an insight into what life was like in the Schreibvogel household when he and Joe were kids, shares photos and films of the family, and talks about Joe's childhood – he apparently used to walk around with a BB gun, shooting animals and then "doctoring them back to life".
Yarri also describes how he and his siblings were treated as hired help on the family farm by their father, who he claims beat them and drowned a bag of puppies just to get a reaction from his children.
Joe has also previously talked about family abuse and detailed his experiences to Louis Theroux during the making of his documentary Shooting Joe Exotic.
However, while Yarri provides a glimpse into Joe's childhood in Tiger King 2, he isn’t asked – and doesn't reveal – why the brothers no longer speak. And their estrangement is a story in itself.
In Shooting Joe Exotic, released earlier this year, more of the history between Yarri and Joe was revealed. Louis Theroux read from a June 2020 letter that Joe Exotic sent him from prison. In it, he accused his older brother of abuse.
"Ingrained in my memory forever… being molested by my oldest brother at about five years old in the bathroom of our old farmhouse."
Theroux then traveled to Texas to see Yarri, who had not spoken publicly about his brother before. His house featured numerous photos of Garrold, but none of Joe ("They're burnt. I got rid of them all") and he made it clear that he hated his younger brother.
"Greed made Joe what Joe is," Yarri said. He and his wife Wendy have both vehemently denied Joe's abuse claims, and they said that a rift between the brothers took place in the 1990s when Joe banned Yarri from visiting Garrold in hospital before he died because Joe had two psychics present who said that Yarri gave off "bad vibes".
There was also a major disagreement after their parents received a $250,000 insurance payout following Garrold’s death.
"Joe used Garrold's death to get what he wanted," Wendy said. The couple claimed that Joe had said the best way to honour his brother's memory was to open an exotic animal zoo using the money, whereas Yarri had wanted to build a soccer field for young children as Garrold had been a football coach.
It appears that their parents decided to give the money to Joe (Yarri claims his brother coerced them), which led to the creation of the GW (Garrold Wayne) Exotic Animal Memorial Park that was featured in Tiger King.
The park at the heart of the brothers' feud was renamed 'Tiger King Park' in 2020, but was permanently closed in August last year.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness and Tiger King 2 are streaming now on Netflix.
Netflix/Left Bank Pictures The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
