Dillon Passage may still be married to Joe Exotic, but he claims his husband is supportive of him finding another relationship. The star of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, married Dillon Passage back in 2017. However, Exotic started serving a 22-year prison sentence in January. Given their circumstances, Passage told Entertainment Tonight that Exotic is in favor of him finding another partner.
“Me and Joe have had that conversation, actually,” Passage said. “He doesn’t want me alone forever. Right now, I don’t feel the need to fill that empty void, [but] if I do ever meet somebody that I feel is going to be very important to me, then Joe would be perfectly fine. Well, maybe not perfectly fine, but he would support my decision to be happy again.”
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“I would still be in contact with Joe,” he added. “I wouldn’t just go meet this person and then act like Joe never existed because obviously he’s a big part of my life and he’s done a lot for me. I’m going to stick by his side and still be there even if I find somebody to love.”
Earlier in the interview, Passage also opened up about how Exotic “brought me out of my depression and made me feel like I was wanted” when they met.
“He was like the shining light that kept me out of that. At first, it was more like a companionship, but being around him as much as I was and seeing his personality and how he treated me and how he treated his animals, I really grew to love Joe.” Even with Exotic behind bars, they are “still married” and “talk quite frequently.”
As far as supporting Passage’s option to pursue another relationship, Exotic is openly polyamorous. In fact, his 2014 three-way wedding to both John Finlay and Travis Maldonado is available to watch on YouTube.
Exotic was found guilty of 17 counts of animal abuse and two counts of murder for hire, much of which was chronicled in the wildly popular seven-part Netflix series. While he’s previously petitioned President Donald Trump to pardon him for his crimes, and Trump himself has said he’d “look into it,” Exotic has nonetheless suffered two major legal setbacks of late.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is available to stream on Netflix.
