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Carole Baskin sold Joe Exotic's zoo with one very specific condition

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 8/30/21

Much can be and has been said about Carole Baskin, but the woman kept her word.

TMZ first reported Saturday (Aug. 28) that the Big Cat Rescue founder sold the zoo formerly owned by Joe Exotic (otherwise known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage) "with the stipulation it can't become a zoo again for a century and the owners can have nothing to do with Tiger King."

The outlet also relayed that the sale happened in June, and the sale went for $140,000 to Francisco and Nelly Vazquez.

The sale comes roughly a year after a federal judge ruled in favor of Baskin taking over Joe Exotic's zoo properties, which was part of a larger $1 million trademark case (h/t The Hollywood Reporter).

Tiger King hit Netflix on March 20, 2020, and instantly became a worldwide phenomenon. For those who have somehow evaded the dizzying true crime documentary, here is the unbelievable official synopsis and trailer:

"Among the eccentrics and cult personalities in the stranger-than-fiction world of big cat owners, few stand out more than Joe Exotic, a mulleted, gun-toting polygamist and country western singer who presides over an Oklahoma roadside zoo. Charismatic but misguided, Joe and an unbelievable cast of characters including drug kingpins, conmen, and cult leaders all share a passion for big cats, and the status and attention their dangerous menageries garner. But things take a dark turn when Carole Baskin, an animal activist and owner of a big cat sanctuary, threatens to put them out of business, stoking a rivalry that eventually leads to Joe’s arrest for a murder-for-hire plot, and reveals a twisted tale where the only thing more dangerous than a big cat is its owner."

Prior to the docuseries' premiere, Exotic was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison "for his role in a 2017 murder-for-hire scheme" to kill Baskin as well as "multiple violations of wildlife laws" (h/t NBC News). Last month, we learned that the 58-year-old will be re-sentenced.

Tiger King: The Official Tell-All Memoir, which was penned from jail by Exotic, will publish in November via Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books.

Baskin, meanwhile, is set to be portrayed by Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon in a Peacock original scripted series titled Joe Exotic, though Baskin has not totally been onboard with the project.

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