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Netflix Docuseries, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” Brings Renewed Interest in the Mysterious Disappearance of Don Lewis

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carole Baskin's ex husband's case reopned

As the popularity of the Tiger King continues to grow so does the interest in the unsolved case of the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s ex-husband, Don Lewis. Lewis was last seen in August of 1997 and his family has believed for years that Carole Baskin had something to do with it.

Don Lewis’ family were not alone in this thinking.The documentary, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” released on Netflix briefly covered the disappearance of Carole’s second husband, Don Lewis. Don’s ex-wife and his children firmly believe that Carole killed Don to get access to his money. Don was a multi-millionaire but was notoriously stingy with his money. After his disappearance, his van was found at an airport. It was abandoned and there was a theory that Carole put forward that he has run off to his property in Costa Rica.

She had him declared dead and ultimately inherited almost all of his wealth. According to his ex-wife and children, they were left with next to nothing thanks to Carole. They believe she cut up his body and used an onsite meat grinder to dispose of his body. The mystery surrounding his disappearance still prevails. There have been no new leads over the last few decades.

However, the popularity of this docuseries has brought about a renewed interest in Don’s disappearance. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has reopened the case of Carole Baskin’s missing husband.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister tells TIME,“I would be foolish if I didn’t take advantage of [the show’s] popularity and put the message out that if you think you know something, you should contact the sheriff’s office. This is very important to us.”

Chronister says that he is hoping that anyone who was involved with Big Cat Rescue, then named Wildlife on Easy Street, at the time of Lewis’ disappearance might be able to offer new information or potential evidence into what might have happened to Lewis.

 

 

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Will Celebrity Intervention Help get Joe Exotic Released from Prison?

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When Covid made millions of Americans homebound, there was no better time for Netflix to drop one of the most bonkers documentaries ever released on the streaming service.The “Tiger King” has become a meme-worthy obsession amongst the young, the old, the famous and the not so famous. However, there is now a movement to calling to free Joe Exotic and a lot of celebrities are on board.

joe exotic

SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you haven’t watched the whole series, then stop reading. We highly recommend you tune in to watch the absolutely bananas world of big cat ownership. The series follows a group of people that each own a roadside zoo. Some of the subjects in the documentary don’t really like that term. Most the individuals featured in this documentary are outlandish each in their own way but none are more flamboyant than Joseph Maldonado-Passage (born Joseph Schreibvogel) otherwise known as Joe Exotic.

The docuseries, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, predominately focuses on the extremely antagonistic relationship between Joe Exotic and his nemesis, Carole Baskin. Joe, an out gay man, was shunned by his family for his lifestyle. He drove off a bridge when he was younger and broke his back. While he was rehabbing in Florida, he met the person that would change his life forever. He became very close with the manager of Lion Country Safari. This close friend would bring home baby animals and Joe would play with them. He fell in love with the wild animals.

After his brother was killed by a semi-truck driver, Joe took the settlement money and opened up a pet store in his brother’s honor. That eventually led Joe to purchase a huge horse farm in Oklahoma that he then converted into a roadside zoo. According to almost all animal rights activists, roadside zoos are cruel and are notorious for animal abuse.  People like Carole Baskin have petitioned to have these zoos shut down.

He first gained notoriety and the ire of fellow big cat enthusiast, Carole Baskin, by traveling around with baby cubs to different malls and charge people to pet and pose for photos with the baby animals. Carole did everything she could to stop Joe from making these appearances. She would email each mall thousands of times pleading with them to stop Joe. Eventually most malls gave in, and cancelled the cub petting. Carole herself was also once a big cat breeder but saw the error of her ways and decided to get these operations shut down. Hence, an epic feud was born.

After multiple lawsuits on both sides, Carole and her new husband finally won a one million dollar settlement from Joe. The issue, according to Joe, was that he didn’t have the funds to pay the settlement. He tried transferring ownership of his assets over to his parents so then Carole and her husband would then go after his parents to try and get their settlement. For years, Joe had also been threatening Carole and her husband on his YouTube channel. The animosity dragged on for years.

Now depending on who you believe (team Carole or Team Joe) a murder for hire plot was hatched and Joe paid a park employee of his zoo to head down to Carole’s Big Cat Sanctuary to kill her as she rode her bike around her property. According to Joe, he was set up but since he had a habit of threatening Carole, it didn’t seem to far fetched that he would take those threats all the way. However, Carole’s ex-husband disappeared under very mysterious circumstances years ago and Joe was adamant that Carole murdered him and fed him to their tigers. Joe believed he was being set up and the Carole was the real murderer between the two of them.

Joe ultimately fled Oklahoma and was arrested in Florida as he hid out with his current husband Dillon Passage. In 2019, he was found guilty on 19 counts. The counts included hiring hit men to murder Baskin at least twice, killing tigers and general fraud. As of right now, he is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison

Despite being a convicted felon, Joe has gained a huge amount of support from the documentary. Some of this support might actually lead to his release. Since the series blew up, numerous celebrities have offered to play him in the film version of the story, posted about him on their social, and have covered his story of their podcasts.

Cardi B has been one of his biggest supporters. She has live tweeted her thoughts about Joe’s story since the documentary hit Netflix. She also stated that she would love to start a GoFundMe campaign for him but according to the rules of GoFundMe, people are not allowed to raise funds on behalf of individuals convicted of a violent crime.

 

Even Kim Kardashian has joined the ranks of people who are fascinated with Joe. She also tweeted about the series saying,”Wow the amount of texts I’ve gotten about Tiger King since I tweeted about it all have mentioned their belief that Carol killed her husband!”

She followed that tweet up with, “What are your thoughts? Do you think Carol killed him? (Sic)”

With the launch of the Kim Kardashian West Justice Project, could Joe be her next cause? Kim has turned her focus to criminal justice reform and has currently experienced success with the release of Alice Marie Johnson. In 1996 Johnson received a life sentence, without parole, for working as a “phone mule” for a group of drug dealers. Her sentence was very extreme and Kim successfully petitioned to get her released from prison.

As Joe and Carole’s stories are still unfolding, it remains to be seen whether all this celebrity support would mean an eventual release. So which team on you on? Team Carole or Team Joe?

 

 

 

 

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Lori Loughlin and Husband, Mossimo Giannulli Enter First Not Guilty Plea in Varsity Blues Bust

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Lori Loughlin pleads not guilty Lori Louglin and her husband are the first of the parents to plead not guilty in the college admissions scandal. The couple pled not guilty early this morning. In court docs obtained by media outlets, Aunt Becky and her fashion designer husband stated that they are are waiving their right to appear in court for an arraignment and pleaded not guilty. It was also discovered that the actress has requested to waive her appearance for an arraignment.

The couple is one out of more than a dozen other parents that were indicted last week on charges of mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy. A total of 50 people were charged in the scandal that rocked the nation from coast to coast. When the news broke, big names like Felicity Huffman were revealed to have taken part in the scandal. She along with 12 other parents have agreed to plead guilty.

Last week, media outlets reported that Aunt Becky and husband turned down a plea deal which would have drastically reduced their sentences because they didn’t believe that they prosecutors had enough evidence to put them behind bars. They were initially charged with mail and mail fraud but federal prosecutors added money laundering to the list of accusations against them once the plea deal was turned down.

The couple is accused on paying 500,000 USD in bribes to make sure that their daughters would be admitted to USC. They were passed off as new recruits for the USC crew team to fly under the radar but they never participated in the meets.

Loughlin has been very upbeat walking into every court appearance. She has been photographed by the media smiling, greeting fans and signing autographs. The couple has yet to make a public statement about the charges or the scandal.

Sharon Bush Reacts to Her Ex Mother in Law’s Biography

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Sharon Bush reacts to Barbara Bush's BiographyThe Bush family has been in the news a lot lately. There have been marriages, funerals, and now a book. A new biography about Barbara Bush, “The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty” by Susan Page details the life of one of the most influential first ladies in American political history. Bush died last year at the age of 92 from complications from congestive heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The biography gives a very inside look into the former first lady’s life as the family rose through the political ranks.

There were some very surprising revelations in the book that were quite shocking. The book includes interviews that the author had with Barbara in the months preceding her death. It was revealed that Barbara suffered from depression and thought about killing herself during the 1970’s. It was suggested in the book that the reason why Barbara suffered from depression was because she either knew or suspected a long time affair between her husband, George H.W. Bush, and one of his long time aides, Jennifer Fitzgerald. This was never confirmed but Page firmly believes that this to be true.

Her ex daughter in law, Sharon Bush, had a lot of feelings about this revelation. She states that she never had direct knowledge of the affair but she told People in a recent interview  that she believes the long time rumors about the affair. Looking back, Sharon wishes that Barbara would have reached out to her for help or support. She told People, “I would have thought she would have been more empathetic, having gone through that herself. It’s just interesting that she was suicidal but would not even take my phone calls, wasn’t empathetic at all,” she added, “I was in shock because, you know, we had a very close relationship.”

The affair would be denied by all parties when the allegations first surfaced. Fitzgerald first worked for George when he was the top U.S. diplomat in China. She later followed him when he decided to come back to Washington, D.C., and then stayed with hum during his run for presidency and when he won, she followed him to the White House. Allegations first surfaced in 1988 and then later in 1992. Barbara was very adamant that there was so affair during that time. Fitzgerald to this day denies that there ever was an affair.

Sharon’s very public divorce in 2003 from Barbara’s son, Neil, was a headline grabbing story. It was discovered that Neil was having an affair and Sharon felt like she was cut out of the family. The recent revelation about a possible affair between her ex father in law and his aide brought up some painful feelings for her. She wishes there could have been more of a relationship so the two women could have supported each other through such a difficult time.

The book, available on Amazon, has a 4.5 out of 5 on Goodreads and is described as “the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies and an entire political era. Written by USA TODAY’s Washington Bureau chief Susan Page, this biography is informed by more than one hundred interviews with Bush friends and family members, hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush herself in the final six months of her life, and access to her diaries that spanned decades. THE MATRIARCH examines not only her public persona but also less well-known aspects of her remarkable life.”

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Mama June from “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”and “From Not to Hot” Released After Drug Arrest

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Mama June and her boyfriend, Geno Doak, were arrested outside a gas station in Alabama after deputies received a report alleging domestic violence. Mama June, real name June Shannon, a reality tv star who first gained fame from the show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” was headed home with her boyfriend after a night of gambling when officers got call that there was a domestic dispute outside a gas station in Macon County. It was reported that a man was threatening a women and when their arrived on scene, officers found Mama June sitting in the front passenger seat and Doak sitting in the back of the car.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the pair sitting in her vehicle. During the course of the investigation officers found drugs and drug paraphernalia, specifically crack cocaine and a crack pipe. When asked what it was, Mama June told them it was crack.  The sheriff said that Mama June was nice and funny and they stated that they had no issue with either one of them. They were taken into custody and then charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and Doak was charged with domestic violence.

Mama June bonded out the same day as her arrest but they were required to hold Doak for 24 hours because of the domestic violence charge so he bonded out the next day. While in jail, the sheriff said that the two were acting very in love and joking with each other despite the argument that had occurred earlier in the evening.

Mama June arrested for drug possession

Since the arrest, the mugshots of the two have been released to the media, and oh boy is her mugshot is one for the books. Her photo shows the reality tv show mom smirking and not looking at the camera.

This isn’t the first time that Mama June has been in the news for a scandal. In the middle of filming what would eventually be the last season of their show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, when the media reported that Mama June had rekindled a relationship with her ex Mark McDaniel. McDaniel was a convicted sex offender and Mama Jun’es daughter Anna, alleged that he had sexually abused her. This revelation led to the cancellation of the show.

Neither party has made a statement but Mama  June did use Twitter to tweet about about her current show, “From Hot to Not” on the WE tv channel. WE tv did issue a statement via Twitter that said, “We share our viewers’ concerns for June Shannon and her entire family. We are monitoring events as they occur and are focused, as always, on the entire family’s well-being.” A preliminary hearing is scheduled on March 27th for Mama June.

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