In 2016, Exotic ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, earning attention as a novelty candidate due to his eccentric persona and unconventional campaign style.

Zoo in June 2018 and was arrested three months later on suspicion of hiring two men to murder Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin, with whom he had a complicated rivalry.

[5] In 2019, Exotic was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire for the plot to kill Baskin.

[5] In 2021, he worked with attorney John Michael Phillips to file a motion for a new trial, and on July 15, 2021, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the convictions for the two murder attempts were wrongly treated as separate.

The success of the first season of Tiger King amid the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns led to Exotic receiving attention on social media and inspiring several internet memes.

[14][15] He was outed to his parents as being homosexual by his estranged older brother Yarri, and in response their father made Exotic shake his hand and promise not to come to his funeral.

[15] A 2019 investigation by New York magazine, which included interviews of family members and local residents who knew him at the time, failed to find anyone who could recall such an event taking place, although he presented a photograph showing a wrecked car as evidence.

[14] In 1997, after closing the first pet shop and opening a new one nearby, Exotic came into conflict with Arlington officials over repeated code violations for decorations and signs: He had been hanging gay pride symbols such as a United States flag with rainbow stripes in the shop windows, and he accused city inspectors of homophobia and of targeting the business because of his sexual orientation.

[15] In 1997, his brother was killed in an auto accident, and Exotic sold the pet shop and purchased a 16-acre (6.5 ha) Oklahoma farm with his parents.

According to Exotic, he spoke by phone to Steve Irwin of Australia Zoo, whose vets provided advice on appropriate antibiotics for alligators and on treating an injured kangaroo.

[21][22] In 2002, seeking to earn money to feed his growing menagerie, Exotic partnered with a traveling magician to provide and handle tigers during stage illusions.

To benefit his stage persona, Exotic began behaving more flamboyantly, wearing flashy clothing and jewelry and adopting his trademark bleached mullet hairstyle.

[28] In April 2023 "My Best Friends" was released, the first single from Jungle Rhapsody: A Tiger King Experience - Exotic's third studio album that was partially recorded in federal prison and produced by JT Barnett, Jonathan Hay and William Moseley.

[34] The Netflix documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is centered on Exotic and his rivalry with Carole Baskin.

[35][36] The first season of the series was released in March 2020, coinciding with the worldwide COVID-19 lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak being classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

[45][46] Exotic ran as an independent candidate in the 2016 United States presidential election, attaining ballot access in Colorado and receiving 962 votes (including recorded write-ins) nationwide.

This comment was made on his post asking for his fans to fill out a form online so he would have a chance at being pardoned by the new President elect, Donald Trump.

However, Exotic, local volunteers, and Red Oak police were quickly overwhelmed by the task of corralling the large and fast-running birds, several of which died.

Zoo was cited multiple times by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violations of Animal Welfare Act standards.

Big Cat Rescue volunteers began to track Exotic's movements and email bomb managers of shopping malls that hosted his shows, prompting many of them to cancel, which jeopardized his income.

Zoo, hosting a nightly talk show that aired vitriolic attacks against Big Cat Rescue and Baskin personally.

[75] In May 2020, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled that Exotic fraudulently transferred ownership of the park to his mother to avoid paying debts resulting from the earlier settlement, awarding ownership to Baskin and giving Exotic's former business partner Jeff Lowe until October 1 to vacate the premises.

Zoo, destroying the Steve Irwin Memorial and Exotic's TV studio, where he shot his YouTube videos and stored footage for a planned reality series.

Marshals Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Exotic was arrested and arraigned on charges of attempting to hire two hitmen to kill Baskin and of violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Fish and Wildlife Service, the lead prosecutor, a federal agent, and former business partner Jeff Lowe; he sought $94 million, he dropped the lawsuit five months later.

[90] In May 2020, a private investigator, attorneys representing Exotic, and a group of volunteers calling themselves "Team Tiger" delivered a 257-page document to the U.S. Department of Justice disputing elements of his conviction and requesting a pardon from President Donald Trump.

[92] On January 19, 2021, the day before the inauguration of Joe Biden, Team Tiger chartered a limousine in Fort Worth to prepare for Exotic's anticipated last-minute pardon and release.

[14] On October 6, 2017, Travis Maldonado fatally shot himself at the zoo[112] in front of Joshua Dial, who was Exotic's campaign manager at the time.

[113] In his memory, Exotic set up a charity called the Travis Maldonado Foundation, which claimed it would provide "no-cost resources for those struggling with meth addiction and gun-safety education."

For safety precautions, Exotic was moved from Grady County Jail in Oklahoma to Federal Medical Center and began a 14-day quarantine.