‘Be my hero please’: ‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic asks Trump for a pardon

2020 just keeps outdoing itself.

On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent financial crisis and record-breaking wildfires, Joe Exotic is now asking President Trump for a pardon.

CBS News obtained his full pardon application and reported on it Wednesday morning.

“If I have ever looked up to anyone it would be you,� the convicted felon and “Tiger King� star wrote in a letter addressed to Trump. “Not because I need you to save my life but because you stand for what you beleive [sic] no matter what anyone thinks.�

The 257-page application includes a handwritten letter appealing to Trump’s ego and playing on the president’s own checkered history with federal investigators.

Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, catapulted to fame in the Netflix true-crime miniseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness� in March as the operator of an exotic animal park in Wynnewood, Okla.

The plot thickened: Back in January, before the series even came out, Maldonado-Passage was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted rival animal sanctuary owner Carole Baskin, as well as for violating federal wildlife laws. (Meanwhile, Baskin is set to compete on “Dancing With the Stars� next week.)

In mid-March, Maldonado-Passage filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted him (among others). Maldonado-Passage is seeking almost $94 million in damages.

His letter to Trump draws on their shared distrust of the Department of Justice.

“I see what they do to you and can’t believe it,� Maldonado-Passage wrote. “But when I saw 2 asst. U.S. attorneys, 2 FBI agents and 1 federal wildlife agent set [sic] in court and know their wittnesses [sic] were lying under oath and even helped them I was ashamed of our country.�

In April, New York Post reporter Steven Nelson and Donald Trump Jr. sparked questions over whether Trump would consider pardoning Maldonado-Passage.

“The man who’s the star of this is a former zoo owner who’s serving a 22-year prison sentence,� Nelson told Trump of “Tiger King� at a press conference. “He’s asking you for a pardon, saying he was unfairly convicted. Your son yesterday jokingly said that he was going to advocate for it. I was wondering if you’ve seen the show and if you have any thoughts on pardoning Joe Exotic.�

While Donald Trump Jr. thought “this is hilarious� at the time, Maldonado-Passage took it … a bit more seriously.

“I’m asking you to listen to your own son Donald Jr. and make this right and grant me a miricle [sic],� he wrote.

Back in March (when the world didn’t feel quite this crazy), “Tiger King� codirector Rebecca Chaiklin told The Times that Maldonado-Passage knows how to work a room — or, perhaps, a president.

“He is in a cage and of course he’s gonna say that he now recognizes what he did to these animals,� Chaiklin said. “With Joe, we have empathy for him, but at the same time, he’s someone who really knows what to say at the right moment.�

Maldonado-Passage asked the president to “let me put this behind me.�

“Most of all so I can return to helping sick children and the homeless, allow me to make you proud, to make America proud, to make the world proud,� he wrote. “Be my hero please.�