Joe Exotic in Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (2020) picture supplied credit: Netflix NZH 05Apr20 - Joe Exotic and some of his big cats. NZH 12Apr20 - Tiger King, on Netfli
Joe Exotic in Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (2020) picture supplied credit: Netflix NZH 05Apr20 - Joe Exotic and some of his big cats. NZH 12Apr20 - Tiger King, on Netfli
Tiger King star Joe Exotic has opened about his chilling past, including how he was raped at the age of just five.
Exotic who is currently in jail revealed how he was treated as a "hired help" by his parents and how he held his first husband Brain Rhyne in his arms as he died from Aids complications.
Netflix's Tiger King's early life is documented and titled Joe Exotic Before He Was King which is due out next week in the US on the International Discovery network.
Exotic talks about his upbringing in Kansas and being raped by an older boy who lived in their home, how he attempted suicide, how his parents never treated him like their own kid and how he was left devastated when his beloved brother Garold died.
It's the first time Exotic has been seen opening up on his trauma in his early life.
Using exclusive interview footage of Joe Exotic, personal photos and home movies, producers unfold the horrific secrets that led to Exotic's crazed life at the GW Zoo, Oklahoma and his downfall.
Exotic was the middle child of five children and claimed he was treated as a farmhand for parents Shirley and Francis as he grew up in Garden City, Kansas.
"You were born to be a hired hand and not a kid so it was a lot of hard work and late nights and struggles," he said in an exclusive preview seen by The Sun
Exotic also revealed to a journalist that aged 5 he was repeatedly raped by an older boy at his own home.
He also revealed his parents were against him being homosexual.
"Being gay, they really didn't take to being openly gay," Exotic said in the preview.
Exotic explained that emotionally animals were there for him after humans failed too.
Joe Exotic with some of his furry friends. Photo / Supplied
The new documentary also explores the high and extreme lows of Exotic's relationship with first husband Brian, they got married years before gay marriages were legal.
He was left heartbroken when Brian died in his arms in a park from complications of Aids.
He said: "When you deal with and you have dealt with as much death as I have, whether it's my brother, my ex-husband, the animals that you fall in love with, you build this wall."
At the age of 19 Exotic landed a job as Chief of Police in Eastvale, Texas. Under his flamboyant personality, Exotic's mental health surfaced when he drove his police car into the side of a bridge.
Exotic labelled the crash initially a bad accident, but later revealed it was a suicide attempt.
In 1999, parents Joe and Shirley made peace with Exotic and helped fund the G.W Zoo that same year "in memory of my brother".
Exotic found fame in Netflix's Tiger King, which documented his life and battles with foe Carole Baskin, an animal rights campaigner who runs the Big Cat Sanctuary.
Exotic is currently serving 22 years in prison for hiring a hitman to kill Baskin, and killing tigers.
The new documentary is set to air in the US on Monday, September 28, local time.
