Joe Exotic Engaged to Boyfriend He Met in Prison
Joe Exotic is engaged! Just weeks after the Tiger King star filed for divorce from estranged husband Dillon Passage, Exotic, real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, revealed in a letter sent from his prison in Texas that he and a fellow inmate named John Graham have been engaged since August 2021, with Exotic likening their relationship to that of Edward and Bella from Twilight.
According to the letter, obtained by TMZ from Exotic's attorney Autumn Blackledge, Exotic and Graham first met after the Tiger King subject got out of solitary confinement. Exotic is currently serving a 22-year jail sentence for plotting to kill his rival Carole Baskin and for 17 federal charges of animal abuse, and he and Graham were housed in the same unit. Exotic said "it was a fast attraction," and it only "took about a month" for him and Graham "to really let our guard down." While Exotic revealed that he was the first to say "I love you," Graham, who was initially reluctant to return the words, "gave in" about three days later. Exotic revealed he and Graham have "been together a year last March. Engaged since August 2021."
While Exotic did not reveal who popped the question or any further details about the engagement, he described their romance as a love "like no other" and one like he has never experienced." Exotic described his fiancé talking "like he is from 400 years ago" and also revealed that Graham "is a practicing witch and is extremely romantic and caring." According to Exotic, although they had different rooms within the prison, Graham "would come by and wake me up on his way to work" just to say good morning and "I love you." Exotic returned the affection by cooking "his lunch in his room so he could eat when he got home."
"Now, if you ever watched Twilight, it's as close as that," Exotic wrote. "His touch. The way he talks, his voice. I still have a shirt so I smell him, but he is so amazing, very broken when we met, he to this day says I'm his missing piece."
Exotic also addressed his relationship with Passage, calling him "selfish, younger ... and wanting to be famous," before adding that Graham "could care less about being in the public eye." As for when the two could walk down the aisle, Exotic shared that his fiancé "is all about getting married," writing that "as soon as Dillon signs the divorce and its final, if I'm still here, John and I want to get legally married right away." However, Exotic, who is still attempting to appeal his conviction, added that Graham's "dream is to marry me in an ancient forest" in Washington or Oregon." Exotic added that they want their marriage to be "private and romantic."