Joe Exotic Believes Late 'Tiger King' Star Erik Cowie 'Got What He Deserved'

Zookeeper Erik Cowie, who shot to stardom as part of Netflix’s “Tiger King,” just passed away, but Joe Exotic showed no compassion for his former employee.

The true-crime documentary “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness” became an internet sensation as soon as it was released on Netflix in March 2020 – the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin attracted the most attention, Erik Cowie also played an essential role in the show as Exotic’s right-hand man at his animal park in Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, Cowie was found dead on September 3, 2021, in an apartment building in Brooklyn. Reportedly, a large bottle of alcohol was nearby.

Authorities couldn’t identify him when his body was found. Eventually, the New York Police Department discovered it was Cowie, but his death's cause, manner, and circumstances are still unclear and under investigation.

Shortly after Cowie’s passing was reported by several news outlets, Exotic admitted he was not shocked about it as Cowie had been dealing with chronic alcohol abuse.

The TV personality admitted he tried to help Cowie by putting him through rehab in Ardmore, Oklahoma, but he wouldn’t get better. Exotic added that Cowie “got what he deserved.”

The relationship between Cowie and Exotic was quite bitter, especially because the former laughed at the 22-year sentence the latter got for trying to hire two people to kill his business nemesis, Carole Baskin.

[Carole] Baskin came out as bisexual.

Cowie even said Exotic would die in jail, “so good riddance.” The self-professed Tiger King admitted that while he was sad for Cowie’s passing, his last words about him backfired.

Exotic’s criminal case has many layers. Apart from supposedly hiring assassins, he was also jailed for euthanizing tigers and falsifying zoo documents.

In June 2021, he made headlines again after a federal appeals court pointed out that he should have received a shorter prison sentence – between 17 and just under 22 years.

As per Baskin, she came out as bisexual and is still running the Big Cat Rescue, an organization based in Florida focused on ending the abuse of big cats in captivity.