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Joe Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, has reportedly been working on a memoir while in prison.
The 57-year-old is currently serving a 22-year sentence. The former zoo owner’s fall from grace was recently documented in the Netflix docu-series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, and has resulted in a lot of attention, and even fame, for the once-politician.
On his newfound fame he's said: "You know it would be nice if I could actually see me being famous out there, but I've seen these same four walls for a year and a half now."
READ MORE: Tiger King's Joe Exotic speaks from prison: 'I'm done with Carole Baskin'
During an interview with People, Joe’s husband, Dillon Passage, revealed the memoir will detail Joe’s childhood and how he grew up suffering "a lot of mental, physical abuse, sexual abuse". "It was not good. I’ve read all of it. It’s very heartbreaking. And he did not have a very good childhood."
The 24-year-old added, saying the book brought him to tears: "He’s really been through a lot. I mean, I studied psychology in college — and it makes a lot of sense about who Joe is now and it really affected him and the way he thinks and the way he deals with things. So it’s a very tragic story. It’s super traumatic to Joe. And once it comes out then everybody will see a different side of Joe.
"It’s a really heartbreaking story and a lot of people are going to see a different side of Joe because of this," he said. "I cried. I cried and cried and cried. It was so tragic because it’s nothing he ever spoke to me about in person. It’s very personal and it’s definitely a story that nobody thought would have happened. It’s absolutely tragic. And Joe really gets his story out there and lets people know what happened to him."
Dillon said the book is currently in the hands of a "close friend" and they are "working on getting a publisher".
Joe and Dillon married in December 2017, as documented on the Netflix series, and are reportedly still together.
Dillon previously revealed to Andy Cohen on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, that he’s not leaving the Tiger King. "I do love Joe. He's been with me through my darkest times, and I'm not going to just dip out and abandon him when he needs me most," he said.
