Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - Tiger King's Jeff Lowe Joins Jono & Ben Live

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

Jeff Lowe with wife Lauren, joined The Hits Jono and Ben on air to talk about the viral docu-series and everything we didn't get to see behind the scenes.As well as giving an update on how the big cats are doing they cleared up the bizarre internet rumours that Jeff is actually Carole Baskin's ex-husband and if he in fact tampered with Joe Exotic's shoes which led to a vicious Tiger attack.You can follow Jono & Ben on Facebook & Instagram, just search The Hits BreakfastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well joining us via Zoom, how is this modern technology? Amazing. Anyway, from the Tiger King Netflix documentary, we've got Jeff Lowe and his wife Lauren. How's it going guys? Hi, we're doing pretty good. How about you guys? It is amazing. I didn't know if you'd be the Zooming type, you guys, but you've been using Zoom quite a bit through this quarantine? Oh my God god a lot most of our interviews have all been zoom we've learned every format every video format media outlet well i can imagine because the documentary is massive worldwide how many annoying radio sessions like ours are getting in touch with you guys at the moment we've probably done in the last two weeks

we've probably done 100 interviews, maybe. Wow. Is there any question you haven't been asked? Oh, yeah, you guys are the best. We've just started. And that's the end of the interview. Yeah, great. Great to talk to you guys. It's all downhill from here.

Thank you guys. Have a good one. Yeah, see you guys. Hey, no, in all seriousness, this is the most insane story I think I've ever heard in my life. Do you understand why the world is fascinated with the Tiger King documentary? Not really because we lived it. I mean, and you guys only saw, it's like you tuned in on Monday, right?

And they didn't show the rest of the week. It's kind of the way we feel about it. We lived this nightmare for three years. So everything that happened was almost seemed normal. And now to show it to everybody and stand back and look at it, it's like, wow, what the f***? We are crazy. Because a lot of people are not happy with how they were portrayed on the show.

How about you guys? How did you feel you looked at the end of it? They came to us promising us one thing and this was about carol baskin and then they told carol baskin it was about you know trying to help abolish tiger cub and then they you know so they they lied to everybody basically and they flipped on us trying to make us look like the villains were when actually we should have been the glorified good guys of this because we came here, we rescued all of his starving animals, we put him back on his feet, we put him back in charge, we left to Las Vegas to live with, you know...

Strippers and porn stars. Just a good, honest living of strippers and porn stars. Yeah. Right? And then when we came back here to check on things, it was like all the money was gone. He'd stolen $180,000 out of a bank account. He forged my name to $50,000 in cash checks. He was bouncing checks all over the city.

So we had to go to the bank and get the bank records because he had locked us out of our own bank account. We couldn't see what was going on. And, you know, when we discovered everything was going on, I went to my attorneys in Oklahoma City and I said, here's my dilemma. What do I do? And they said, well, you have to, you know, we have to, we're obligated now to take this to the authorities. So they went to the authorities and then the authorities came to us. So that's how we ratted out Joe. And that's how we stole his zoo by being, by being nice people. And you know, it's, I like to point out to people that call us a snitch and a rat.

If I knew right now what happened to Don Lewis, would you want me to tell you? Yes. Then I'd be a snitch and I'd be a rat. All right. I was like, Jesus, tell us. We got the exclusive. We don't deserve the exclusive, but give us the exclusive.

I see what you mean there. So how are the animals now? Because a lot of people are obviously concerned with their welfare. You guys are in charge of the zoo. How are the animals? They're doing better than they've ever done. I mean, they don't eat Walmart meat that's donated anymore. They eat meat that we purchased from meat wholesalers.

It's prepared. It's actually meat that we purchased from meat wholesalers. It's prepared. It's actually meat that's made for restaurants consumption. It's all grade A USDA. It doesn't mean anything to you guys. The USDA grade A meat. They get medical care. They get the best of everything. Our vet comes

once a week to check on everybody and make sure everybody's doing well. We actually just celebrated three birthdays with some cats and they got some really nice steaks. And the nanny got peed on. Yeah, the nanny got peed on. Because on the show you guys said you wanted to get a hot nanny when you had your child.

I understand you've succeeded on that life mission, I guess. We do. We always succeed. Can I ask who peed on the nanny? So our lion did. Oh, the. Can I ask who peed on the nanny? So, our lion did. Oh, the lion. I don't think. I might later, but it was the lion.

That's a family show. Family friendly peeing on people. Jeff, I want to ask a question. There was a news story that broke yesterday. There's a conspiracy theory that you are Carol Baskin's murdered husband that she fed to the Tigers. Can you confirm or deny? I will have to plead.

Yeah, I'm going to take fifth. It's so stupid. It's because look at Carol Baskin and then look at what I hang out with, you know? Oh, so you're just saying you wouldn't do Carol Baskin. That's his major issue. How would anyone? Nanny?

Come in. Hey, what's your time? Just a second. I'm not going anywhere. There you go. No. You tell me. Would Carol Baskin's husband?

No. Not if you... I forgot what the question was there. Can you confirm it was the cat? To hang out with us. I had to leave Carole, I admit it. You left Carole, yeah, I thought so. Now, there's a few things that I want to get sewn up from the documentary as well.

Joe, exotic, he accused you of spraying cologne on his shoes, which then led to a vicious Liger attack. Can you confirm or deny? And what was the cologne? Well, you know what? I would love to take credit for that, but he was just a moron. And, you know, he gets up at 7. What he fails to realize is he gets up at 7 o'clock.

I usually don't get up until at least 8. We live in a different house. We live in a different house on the park. He puts his shoes on his feet feet and he wears them all day. So how did I get to his shoes? And on top of it, I wear cologne every single day of my life

and I play with these cats every day. They don't react to cologne. Joe just was, he was just dumb and he was reckless that day and he got what he deserved. What are you running?

I imagine you'd be like a Sauvage type of gentleman, maybe a Youp, Calvin Klein. I be like a Sauvage type of gentleman, maybe a Youp. Calvin Klein. I actually had some Sauvage the other day, but right now I've got on Jimmy Choo. Oh, Jimmy Choo? Oh, yeah, high-end stuff. I do like the Sauvage.

Although, you know, Johnny Depp's... Yeah. Now, a lot of people who watch the show obviously think that the Cubs and the Lions and Tigers that you guys have should be released in the wild but i was reading something online that you you said that that can't happen now for these lines that have been uh you know at your park well you know once once an animal's been they're not domesticated but once they've been taken out of the wild and bred in captivity they lose those natural instincts that would take to survive

in the wild we could release a000 tiger cubs into the wild, and I bet you that 10% of them would not survive for a year. Plus, our governments will not let us transport animals from country to country. They prohibit it. It'd be like putting us into a real job. We just wouldn't survive. We would not survive.

You'd be dead in a week. Are you guys shocked with the success of the show? Because, I mean, it's just been a worldwide smash. Yeah, it's kind of humbling. It's, you know, we can't go out. There's people right now at the end of our driveway waiting for us to come out of our driveways. Wow.

It's insanity. What are they hoping for? A photo or something? Yeah, a photo. They want you to get out of your driveways. Wow. It's insanity. What are they hoping for? A photo or something? A photo. They want you to get out of your car and take their picture. They don't care about social distancing at all. They come up and they hug you.

I had someone kissing me on the cheek the other day. Really? Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. This thing's getting a bit awkward now. We might have to mute the sound. Jeff? Coronavirus is the least of my worries right now. We might have to mute the sound Um Jeff

Coronavirus is the least of my worries right now What I also really appreciated through the documentary Was when you were telling your side of the story And you would You know reenact Joe Exotic's bits You would put on Joe's voice Which I thought was a bang on impression of him Can you give us a little taste of Joe Exotic

I'm Joe Exotic, the Tiger King. Get back, you bitch. It's a family show. Well, they watched the Tiger King. The Tiger King wasn't really a family show, but that was a great impression. Does Joe appreciate the impression of him?

I don't know if he's ever heard it. I'm sure he has. Actually, I did mimic him a couple times. You know, when the hidden video that Lauren took of us, of me confronting Joe in the office, I mimicked him a couple times, and I think they edited that out of the final cut. But we uploaded those videos to YouTube so people could see that we confronted

him for over an hour and a half with all of his crimes, and he didn't deny any of them, even including burning down his own recording studio. Because he asked me, he said, so how are we going to fix this? And I said, I don't know, Joe. I said, all the evidence is here. Maybe you just burned the office down like you burned down the alligator house. He didn't deny it. And you'll be voting for him in his presidential campaign? Joe

Exotic for President 2020? Yeah. He actually had signs in the park. Already? Already. After he lost the election in 16, surprisingly he was blindsided and lost the election in 16. He had the 2020 signs printed

and stuck on the buildings. Well, you've got to plan. You've got to plan. You've got to think ahead, right? You've got to launch a campaign with that. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. I always liked his quirky merch he had. I mean, he had Joe Exotic condoms with his face on it. How much money did he blow on novelty merchandise? Oh, my God.

$88,000 in money, in misappropriate money from the park that he spent on campaign signs, condoms, rolling papers. T-shirts, hats. T-shirts, yeah. And that was just in one year. How much leftover Joe Exotic merch have you got lying around? Did you send some to give away?

We had a very big bonfire party the other day. You should have joined us. It was great. It smelled like latex and rubber. He burnt all the other day. You should have joined us. It was great. Smelled like latex and rubber. He burnt all the condoms. So much stuff. Yeah. You guys obviously know a lot about exotic animals.

Here in New Zealand, we have a kiwi bird, which is a bird that doesn't fly. It gets attacked by stoats and weasels. It kind of comes out at night. What do you think about that? How do you rate our exotic animals in New Zealand? It sounds like coke on the kiwi bird. I hear Australia has some really dangerous animals.

They have poisonous, like lily pad snakes there. Yeah, our kiwi's really disappointing, to be honest. It's literally the only bird that can't fly. One of the criteria for being a bird, it doesn't even meet. Now, Jeff, President Donald Trump has weighed into the documentary. And what do you think about a potential presidential pardon for Joe Exotic to be released from prison? I think if he wants to protect Joe Exotic's life, he'll leave him where he's at. Because there's so many people that hate him now and that would like to get famous by knocking off the uh the former tiger king on top of it he's got so many more charges pending from the federal government here for campaign finance violations i think there's 30

or 40 counts that i know of um income tax even if trump let him out he'd be right back in they'd probably arrest him before he got to his limousine. Tax evasion. Ben's been doing that for a while. Yeah, but don't admit it. That's the thing, you don't admit it. When was the last time you had any contact with Joe Exotic? It would have been about the 18th of June of 18.

And he texted me after he left the park. He texted me and he says, I just can't do this no more. I don't want anybody to know where I'm at. So he was living up about 30 or 40 miles away from the park, hiding in somebody's backyard.

He was just trying to abscond from the authorities because he knew something was coming. And he tried to say he was in Belize. And the authorities because he knew something was coming. And he tried to say he was in Belize. And he told everybody he was in Belize. He told his mother he was in Alabama. He told his mother I had a hit out on him. So that's why he left.

And when in actuality, he was in Gulf Breeze, Florida. And he was applying for a job as an emergency room nurse with a falsified resume that another nurse friend of his helped him to draft. Yeah. So he was right up to the end, he was trying to scam everyone. So can you imagine Joe Exotic as your nurse with no credentials whatsoever? Yeah. The story just gets wetter and wetter. He could sing you to sleep. What I really appreciate about Joe is his blasé security with gun control. I mean, he's just firing bullets off left, right, and center. Were you ever close to being shot by Joe Exotic? Oh, man. You know, no, but Travis, his husband, was reckless with a gun right to the very end.

And Travis would sneak up behind you and put a gun to your head. And just, you know, I won't say what he said because it's a family show. But, you know, he just tried to he was just goofing around all the time. And he put he used to wear these these basketball shorts and he just carried that 45 tucked in his basketball shorts, running around, jumping on a quad runners and the four wheelers. Yeah. And you know, it cost him his life in the end, but Joe was pretty careful with his gun around us. But when he would get into his studio and he was doing his Carol Baskin,

his hatred videos towards her, he would pull that gun out and shoot through the walls. And he didn't, he didn't There was staff out by the dumpster one time. Almost got hit by one of his... He just fires bullets on them. Wow. And do you believe that he ordered a hit out on Carole Baskin? Absolutely.

He talked about it every damn day of his life. And Joe thought James would know the unsavory, shady characters. So James was already working with the feds, unbeknownst to Joe. And so the feds sent in this great big biker-looking guy. And James says, here it is, Joe. Here's your guy. This guy will do it. So Joe stood right up in the office and explained what he wanted him to do,

follow her into a parking lot and cap her and drive off. And he promised to give the guy some money by selling Tiger Cubs the following week. Had he handed the guy a dollar bill at that point, they would have raided the parking lot. It's just an unbelievable story. We thank you so much for your time today. And one other unbelievable thing I found out is, Jeff, you've got 60 to 70 of the same brand of t-shirts you know with the kenevals evil keneval and robbie can you for years and we had a sponsorship deal with affliction and they started us in the affliction clothing and you know here here in america they still sell it in the buckle stores and and i think the way they're 80 t-shirts and you, so not everyone wears them anymore.

And as, as soon as I start putting skulls on shirts, I'll switch to eyes up. Right. Yeah. All it takes is a skull on a shirt. Yeah. Um,

skull on a shirt, skull, skull on a shirt, Chris bedazzled. If you want. Okay. And finally, one last question out of all of the cast of Tiger King, who is the craziest?

Are we talking Joe Exotic? Are we talking Carole Baskin? Are we talking the guy, Antle, who runs his weird cult tiger thing on the other side of the country? You know, I think Joe would probably be, you know, the loosest cannon of the bunch because he had the world in the palm of his hands and he just let his hatred and his greed destroy him. And he let one woman sitting 1,600 miles away drive him crazy every single day of his life.

And now I'm sure it's even worse. Can you imagine this guy wanted fame so bad and now he's sitting in a federal prison in a nine by seven cell, can't enjoy the fact he's on People Magazine today. He couldn't even watch the documentary and it would drive him absolutely crazy to know that we were getting the attention that we're getting. He's probably one of the most famous people in the world right now. Yeah, unbelievable story. Thank you so much for your time and thank you for the seven hours of my life I'll never get back.

Yeah, you're right. I've had it for eight now. Oh, it's eight now. You're right. I tell you what, next time we're over there, we'll be coming to visit that zoo. Absolutely. We'll have the new one open by then. Oh, we'll be there.

We'll be there. Are we? We'll give away a trip on the radio station to the zoo. Absolutely. Let's go. Done it. Promo on the spot. I'll station to the zoo. Absolutely. Let's go. Done it. Promo on the spot.

I'll sort out the flights. That's how it works. Once the border control restrictions are off, we're over there. All right, mate. Thanks for your time today, guys. Thank you.