He released a statement that read, in part: "140 million Joe Exotic fans had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Love declined to answer questions on Wednesday about why he had been so certain Exotic would be pardoned. The list of 143 pardons, released after midnight, included former presidential adviser Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and rapper Lil Wayne. He drove the lawyers back to their offices and dropped them off in the parking lot. Finally, at about 10:30 p.m., Debose was released from duty. He finally drove members of the legal team to the jail, but just for a brief news conference during which the lawyers declared that Exotic was innocent. "I was showing off the limo to people that were there," says Debose, who did a few interviews himself with restless reporters in the parking lot.
Rental rates for the super-stretch truck limousine at Heaven on Wheels, Debose's employer, start at $165 an hour, not counting Debose's driver fees (which he declined to detail).Īt the moment, he had nowhere to drive. "We still had hope that it was going to happen at any time." Eric Love kept the interviews up," Debose says.
"And mostly, just being on TV and all the media presence that was around.
Inside the limo, members of Team Tiger chatted about "what was going to happen, how the pardon was going to go," Debose says. Trump had less than 24 hours left in office, and the clock was ticking. ("It was against our policy, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity," Debose says. The lawyers asked him to drive them to a local steakhouse, where he joined them for lunch. Spirits remained high, according to Debose. Love even spoke of swinging by McDonald's to get Exotic a McRib sandwich.īut noon came and went with no word from the White House. "He doesn't want anyone to see him until his hair is done," Love told an ABC News affiliate. So confident was Team Tiger of Exotic's imminent release that it also hired a hairdresser, who was waiting in Debose's limo to coif Exotic's signature platinum-blonde mullet. "We have good reason to believe it will come through." "This time tomorrow, we're going to be celebrating," Eric Love, the Texas philanthropist who had lobbied for the pardon, told the British tabloid Metro. The mood there, he says, was jubilant.Įveryone was "just joking, trying to pass the time," Debose says.
* Oklahoma judge orders Tiger King zoo to turn over big catsĭebose pulled up to the law offices of Francisco Hernandez in the super-stretch turbo diesel limo at 10:30 a.m. * Joe Exotic has a limo waiting if President Trump pardons the Tiger King star * Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, rapper Lil Wayne, dozens of others * Joe Exotic remains in jail, his freedom limo never used, without a presidential pardon
Joe Exotic's story is also the center of a television series with Kate McKinnon, and was intended to be an Amazon production starring Nic Cage, but that has officially been dropped.Debose says Exotic's lawyers, who call themselves "Team Tiger," were expecting a pardon for their client from President Donald Trump about noon that day - the president's last full day in office. The Netflix series made Exotic and his story part of the cultural zeitgeist last year right when the pandemic started to kick off with over 64 million views on the streaming service. According to the court document, in the recording, he told the agent, "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off." After this failed attempt though, the prosecution says Exotic offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin during a meeting that was recorded and played for the jury. qowFDua6AI - TODAY July 15, 2021Įxotic had allegedly paid Alan Glover, one of his employees, $3,000 to kill Baskin though Glover had testified that he did not intend to follow through with the plan. A federal appeals court has agreed to vacate his sentence on a technicality and resentence him. Tiger King star Joe Exotic could be getting out of prison sooner than expected.