The Grown Ups star, David Spade, recently came across an unexpected offer from the Tiger King himself. Joe Exotic, commonly known as The Tiger King, called in to one of the recent episodes of the Fly on the Wall podcast, which is hosted by David Spade and Dana Carvey, and told Spade that he should be the one to play him on-screen. The offer he made to Spade came as a surprise not only to him but to everyone else.
Joseph Allen Maldonado, or Joe Exotic, nicknamed The Tiger King, is a businessman as well as a popular media personality who once controlled and managed Oklahoma's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. He operated the famous animal park from 1999 to 2018.
During the podcast, Joe Exotic discussed a bunch of topics and opened up about how he felt about his portrayal in different TV shows and the depiction of events that led to his imprisonment. The Tiger King is serving a 21-year sentence and is currently held at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
The 62-year-old Joe was convicted on twenty-one counts in 2019. The charges include animal abuse, wildlife crime, and a plot to kill Carole Baskin, who is the founder of the non-profit animal sanctuary Big Cat Rescue.
While talking to Spade, Joe mentioned the 2022 Peacock original series, Joe vs. Carole, and expressed that he wasn't satisfied with John Cameron Mitchell's portrayal of him. In addition, he revealed that Nicolas Cage was the first choice for the role of The Tiger King, and he was not happy with that, either. Joe reacted by saying:
"You know, before they actually came out with that (referring to the 2022 series Joe vs Carole), they were going to cast Nicolas Cage. And I was like, 'No, no, Nicolas Cage is too dry. I said, 'Come on!' You want to have a real show? You got to cast David Spade to play Joe Dirt,' you know?"
It seemed Joe was quite fond of Spade, as he wanted him to play his character on screen.
Spade joked and said:
"How about this? Here's my audition: 'F*ck you, Carole Baskin, you b*tch!"
The Tiger King also mentioned and talked in depth about the 2020 Netflix docuseries Tiger King, which focused on Joe and his rivalry with Carole Baskin, who was also in the same line of work. Spade thought the docuseries was great, however, Joe begged to differ and was quite critical of it. Joe went ahead and also took a dig at the Peacock series and said:
"(The show Joe vs Carole) made me out to be a whole lot more gayer than I am. If they wanted to make money, they would have to cast David to play me, because that guy that played me went way over the top."
Spade responded:
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"Listen, I can do super-gay. Just give me some notes."
If you wish to listen to the rest of the podcast and find out what else Joe Exotic said, then visit Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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