Hilary Duff rose to fame in the early 2000s as a teen idol, primarily through her role as the titular character in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire, which aired from 2001 to 2004.
As an adult, Duff has landed starring roles in popular TV series including Younger and How I Met Your Father.
Over the years, Duff has amassed more than 26 million followers on Instagram including Joe Maldonado-Passage a.k.a. Joe Exotic a.k.a. “The Tiger King.”
When Duff dropped the Thanksgiving home video and photos below, her husband, the performer and musician Matthew Koma, was surprised to see that Joe Exotic had left a series of red heart emojis. [Note: If you are viewing on an app, you may have to visit the original article to view this media]
Joe Exotic is the former zookeeper who privately owned exotic animals including tigers and lions and was the central figure of the 2020 Netflix documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.
In 2019, he was convicted on federal charges, including murder-for-hire, related to a plot to kill Carole Baskin and on multiple violations of wildlife protection laws. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in January 2020.
Joe Exotic’s red heart emojis sparked a conversation between him and Duff’s husband who asked Joe which prison he’s in (“Federal medical center Fort Worth Texas”), if he’s allowed to record anything there, and if he’s allowed to receive visitors (“not currently they don’t even hardly let me talk to my lawyers”).
Koma replied: “dang. If that changes let us know and I’ll come hang for a day.” Joe replied: “thanks will do Matthew.”
Note: Joe Exotic has also reached out to Donald Trump (who he ran against in the 2016 presidential election) for a pardon if Trump is re-elected in 2024.
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