Joe Exotic has a new love interest in prison, following his recent divorce filing. Exotic — real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage — has been married to Dillon Passage since 2017. The two became estranged when Exotic was sent to prison in 2019, and in March the Tiger King star filed to divorce Passage.
Now, Exotic has a new man in his life. “Joe’s new love interest is a man named John Graham, and the prison romance is the reason Exotic recently filed divorce docs from jail,” Maldonado-Passage’s attorney, Autumn Blackledge, told Entertainment Tonight. “Exotic added of the romance, “God works in amazing ways.” No information about Graham was shared, but ET did publish a photo, showing him sporting a hat and gray t-shirt. Graham also appears to be heavily tattooed and has most of his neck inked in artwork.
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TMZ was first to report the news that Exotic had filed for divorce from Passage. “While it was rumored that Mr. Passage had filed for divorce almost a year ago upon his public announcement on social media, Mr. Passage failed to serve his husband and did not follow through with obtaining a divorce through the legal system,” Blackledge wrote in a press release. She added that Exotic “has tried to obtain information about Mr. Passage and his whereabouts so that the two could enter into what he hopes to be an amicable divorce, but so far, his attempts to get Mr. Passage to contact him have failed.”
Speaking to PEOPLE, Blackledge said, “Joe is nearing the end of his cancer treatment and has fallen in love. He has no ill will toward Dillon, but has been trying for a while to reach him to get a divorce settlement. My understanding is that both Joe and Dillion have moved on romantically and they should both have the freedom to love again free from the bonds of marriage.”
Passage replied to the divorce filing through his manager, Jeff Duncan. “Dillon is pleased to get some finality to the divorce,” Duncan told PEOPLE. “Previously, his attorneys drafted the necessary paperwork on two separate occasions which were not signed by and then ignored by Joe. Dillon is happy to get some closure and welcomes progress toward his request for divorce to Joseph Maldonado.” Exotic, 59, filed the divorce paperwork in Santa Rosa County, Florida. This is where he and 25-year-old Passage lived together as a married couple right before the ex-private zoo owner was arrested, charged, and convicted in a murder-for-hire case.
