Joe Exotic from Netflix's Tiger King contracted coronavirus in prison

He was placed in isolation after several other inmates tested positive for the virus.

tiger 311 (photo credit: Sara Manobla)
tiger 311
(photo credit: Sara Manobla)
Joe Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, star of Netflix's show Tiger King, is claimed by his husband to have contracted the coronavirus while in prison, according to numerous US news reports. 
Exotic's husband Dillon Passage made the claim in a radio interview with SiriusXM on Wednesday. 
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire scheme. He was placed in isolation after several other inmates tested positive for the virus, and then moved to FMC Fort Worth, a federal medical center in Texas operated by the Bureau of Prisons, according to NBC News.
Before his imprisonment, Joe Exotic was big cat breeder and ran one of the nation's largest big cat and wild animal sanctuaries in the US, located in Oklahoma.
He was found guilty in 2019 for attempting to hire someone to murder Animal Rights activist Carol Baskin, his self proclaimed 'enemy' who founded Big Cat Rescue in Florida. 
Editor's note: A fact-check of this story later revealed that it was likely false, despite the multiple media claims. Learn more.