While much of Netflix's Tiger King 2 focuses on Joe Exotic’s legal problems and the ongoing mystery about Carole Baskin's missing second husband, the new season also touches on Joe's personal life and his relationship with husband Dillon Passage.
At the end of the first season of Tiger King, Joe was sent to prison for 22 years (for his involvement in hiring someone to kill Baskin, and also for animal rights abuses at his GW Zoo) and Passage was filmed talking to his incarcerated husband over the phone.
"I just worry whether or not you're gonna be there when I get out," Joe told Dillon, and Dillon replied: "I’m not going anywhere."
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By the time of Joe's imprisonment in January 2020, the couple had been together just over two years. Joe's previous husband, Travis Maldonado, died of an accidental self-inflicted shooting in October 2017, as documented in Tiger King season 1.
Joe then started dating a 22-year-old Dillon, who hailed from Austin, Texas. They married in December 2017, with Joe telling The Lost Ogle: "Icould not ask for a more amazing person to land in my life."
Unfortunately, long term married bliss was not meant to be. At the start of Tiger King 2, with Joe in jail, Dillon was already telling directors Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode: "I don't want to be forever known as just 'Joe Exotic's husband.' I want to be Dillon Passage."
He also introduced the Tiger King 2 team to his manager, Jeff Duncan, and had them accompany him to a meeting for his merchandise range, which included the product 'Tiger Taint Tail Brightener' (one of his advisors had to explain it was anal bleach, and it wasn't a good idea for him to put it on his face).
In the documentary, Dillon explained that it was "extremely stressful" being in contact with Joe, as Joe didn’t like Dillon hanging out with his friends, while Joe told Chaiklin and Goode that he and Dillon had argued on the day of his arrest and hadn't spoken since – despite the evidence in the first season that they talked regularly on the phone.
By the end of Tiger King 2, it's clear Joe and Dillon are no longer together or even speaking.
"I don’t have my zoo. I don’t have my animals. I ain’t even got my husband anymore. Somebody else got that, too," Joe said from prison.
"It’s been a wild ride," Dillon said in the documentary. "I feel so happy now that I’ve finally relieved myself of Joe."
In March 2021, TMZ reported that the pair were heading for divorce, with Joe commenting in an Instagram post: "Dillon thinks having to sleep alone and not have me out there is so rough and hard to deal with to the point he has to leave me… All I ever wanted was to mean something to someone. Why is that so much to ask?"
Dillon confirmed the relationship was over, and on July 8, 2021, shared a photo of his new partner, John.
Joe, meanwhile, organised a 'Bachelor King' competition from prison to find a new partner. "Men over 18 years of age can fill out an application online to possibly be the next romance in Joe’s new life," the competition read.
"The top 3 picks will receive a 3-night, 4-day all-exclusive paid romantic get away with Joe Exotic once he has been released."
Joe has since confirmed he has a new partner – Seth, from Arkansas – while Dillon has taken to social media to refute Joe's claims that he had been with Exotic for financial reasons.
In an Instagram post in August, Dillon revealed that while he and Joe lived together, Joe refused to allow Dillon's friends to visit, or for Dillon to visit his family, adding: "I was another animal in a cage for Joe."
He did add that he believed Joe was a good man who had given Dillon $180,000 during their relationship. "I hope and I pray that Joe gets out of prison because he doesn't deserve to be there," Dillon said in the video.
"He doesn’t deserve to suffer in prison, but I also do not deserve to suffer in a relationship where I’m constantly being belittled and torn down and have things held against me and over my head."
Tiger King seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix.
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.
