Moreover, he likes to do camping and hiking in adventurous places. However, his plans went up in flames (literally) when the studio where the footage was kept caught fire. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. After completing graduation, he began writing his own theater plays. The irony of the docu-series, Kirkham said, is that you can't tell how scared Joe Exotic was of his own tigers. According to Mens Health, Kirkham interviewed Bush while he was under the influence of alcohol. "Tiger King" is currently available to stream on Netflix. Rick, on the other hand, was able to overcome his drug addiction issues before releasing a documentary called TV Junkie, which was shot while he was high. Kirkham started working as a producer at RealReels in 1999 where he still works, according to his LinkedIn. Conservative media personality Bill O'Reilly, who used to work as an anchor on the show, even called his former co-worker Kirkham "nuts" in a clip included in the docuseries. Kirkham moved onto Exotic's Greater Wynnewood Zoo property to film a reality show about Joe Exotic and, in exchange, boost the production value of Exotics somewhat unhinged web series. He has not returned. He has not returned Oxygen.coms request for comment. Greater Wynnewood Zoo property. There have been accusations that Kirkham himself set fire to the studio, to which he responded, That's my retirement money that just burned, OK?" Kirkham was hired in 1988 by Inside Edition as an anchor, where he interviewed celebrities like James Brown and Chuck Norris. as in 2020. Join Facebook to connect with Rick Kirkham and others you may know. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line. Rick has moved to Bodo, Norway, where he works as a freelance reporter. By 1996, his addiction caused his professional and personal life to crash. He relays numerous instances of animal cruelty he says he saw Joe Exotic participate in, and shows gory footage of Kelci "Saff" Saffery's damaged arm and hand after a tiger attack. Kirkham began to speak publicly about his drug use to young adults. I attended the American Broadcasting School. Now, according to Kirkhams Facebook, he lives in Norway, where he works as a freelance reporter, with his new wife. In this show, he shared the video clips of his 3000 hours videography. Discovery ID channel released a show called The Truth Behind Joe Exotic: The Rick Kirkham Story. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Always interested in television, he then went to school for broadcast journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma, according to Kirkhams LinkedIn profile. Recently, Rick was seen spending his time with his wife and having a great harbor-side lunch before moving to Oslo to deliver a speech even during this pandemic period. I had to go get psychiatric help after working in that zoo. However, Exotic, whose legal name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, wouldn't become a reality star: Instead, he is currently serving 22 years for attempting to hire a hitman to kill Baskin, an animal rights activist who is another controversial figure in the big cat world. His real birth name is Richard Allen Kirkham. A filmmaker, Kirkham recorded much ofhis addiction on camera. Later, he started working for Inside Edition,where he became known for his willingness to participate in wild stunts like setting himself on fire (as seen inTiger King). From the age of 14, Kirkham filmed more than 3,000 hours of a video diary. Kristin Rosy Kirkham. As an interviewee, Kirkham did not receive royalties from the show, but allowed Goode and Chaiklin to use footage of Exotic he owned for a few thousand dollars. After getting sober, Kirkham started working as a producer for RealReels. He would later use that camera to capture a video diary of [his] life as he talked intimately about his addiction, his guilt and the love of his two boys, which would ultimately save him from self-destruction.. He is well-known for his signature look of wearing a dark cowboy hat. He had worked briefly for KFBB-TV in Montana as a news director in 2013, prior to the Joe Exotic fiasco. The shocking revelation came during a TV He has produced various popular Netflix series such as Tiger King, Tv Junkie, etc. Later, his wife filed for divorce. Hes gone on to appear in several interviews and is attached to other shows trying to make the most of the popularity Tiger King received. Kirkham claimed to have everything on video, including good, bad, and ugly.. ," released by HBO. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The basic facts of Tiger King are a matter of record. In the docuseries, Kirkham left and went back home which at the time was Dallas, Texas after his fiery conclusion at Exotic's zoo. He took over 46 boxes of film and 3,200 videotapes of footage and had them made into the documentaryT.V. Later, Kirkham started working forInside Edition,where he became known for his willingness to participate in wild stunts like setting himself on fire (as seen inTiger King). "I sold my soul to the devil being in that zoo," he said. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Kirkham also described the footage he captured that was later famously burned, per the Netflix series: If I were to let the video out that I have shot of [Maldonado-Passage] killing animals on this park, of [Maldonado-Passage] tricking people by taking in their animals, [Maldonado-Passage] would probably go to jail.. Your email address will not be published. Discovery ID published The Truth Behind Joe Exotic: The Rick Kirkham Story. Kirkham wrote so many motivational quotes also. This is Kirkham's second marriage whom . Soon after his wedding and right before the birth of his first child, Kirkham checked into rehab at the encouragement of Inside Edition producers. He was only 14 years old when he began filming his daily life in minute detail for 3000 hours. Kirkham alsodiscusses the dark consequences of working atGreater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, revealing that he needed six months of therapy and one week of in-patient treatment to cope with what he'd seen. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness Episode 4 Recap: King For A Day. For example, Rick Kirkham worked with Exotic, trying to make a documentary. Who Is 'Tiger King' Producer Rick Kirkham? Tiger King features several fascinating subplots, from Joe's marriage to men who are allegedly straight to a faux music career designed to boost his public image. after that, he decided to make his career in the field of cinematography. By 1988, he was hired at the newsmagazine program Inside Edition to partake in deadly stunts like being shot out of a cannon or being set on fire. Mandalorian Addresses the Fate of Cara Dune, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He lost his family and "Inside Edition," along with all his other gigs, fired him. Rick holds an American nationality and is of English ethnicity. In that same interview, Kirkham shared that Maldonado-Passage was a very evil guy to the animals and the people that worked for him. Kirkham worked on A Reason to Live and The Frozen Theater (2008). We cover the latest news articles around the trending People on the internet. As Kirkham explains in Tiger King, much of what he describes was initially all caught on his own cameras. Tami, his wife at that time, could not stand Ricks addiction to the news and drugs. 2. I regret ever meeting Joe Exotic because I saw there was a great opportunity for an incredibly wonderful show about big animals and this crazy zookeeper but I too was sucked in to the surreal world of Joe Exotic, he said. But even before the crazy Tiger King experience and the multiple fires, Kirkhams life was already quite wild. Furthermore, Exotic alleged that Baskin offered Kirkham $20,000 to burn down the studio. Fame, according to Kirkham, was always the end-goal for Joe. I was secretly developing a death wish and taking more and more risks," Kirkham later told ABC News in 2009. "It was cultish, very cultish," he said of the atmosphere. He once posted about how Dustin has a beer named after him. However, as viewers watched the show, all of his work was destroyed by fire after the studio was destroyed. By Bernadette Roe / April 6, 2020 8:52 pm EST. 2023 E! He is currently living in Bodo, Norway, where he works as a freelance reporter for RealReels. Recently in 2020, he starred in the Netflix documentary Tiger King. [13] Kirkham works as a freelance reporter for BOD NU, and continues his job as a producer, director, and cinematographer, working at RealReels Productions and Consulting. His desire to be near a recording camera all the time, as shown in Tiger King, was intuitive to him, as he had started recording his life daily with a video camera at 14. Or text HOME to 741-741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor at the freeCrisis Text Line. We always welcome your valuable feedback to improve Wiki Celebs Site. His days as a crime reporter are where Kirkham earned his place in the spotlight. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4pbBOnMh3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link. His LinkedIn and Facebook profiles still list him working at RealReels as a film and tv producer, as well. As of 2022, he has an estimated net worth of $3-4 million. While sprucing up the bizarre series, Kirkham promised the attention-hungry Exotic that he would transform him into a reality television star. "That's the real irony here,is the fact that Joe Exotic, all he ever wanted in his life was to be famous; the most famous man in the world," Kirkham told Sylvester. Kirkham's own house inexplicably .css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}burned down just six months later, killing his dog. Related:Will There Be A Tiger King Season 2? Tiger King (subtitled in marketing as Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness for its first season, Tiger King 2 for its second season and Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story for its third season) is an American true crime documentary streaming television series about the life of former zookeeper and convicted felon Joe Exotic. Roll your camera. I watched the entire two-plus hours and thought Kirkham came across as pretty much the same person viewers saw in the Netflix series -- a down-on-his-luck journalist who spotted a good story and was eager to make it into a reality show. Maldonado-Passage was, however, convicted in federal court of two counts of murder for hirethough the hitagainst Carole Baskindid not go throughalong with a number of charges around the animals he kept, includingnine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act. Kirkham previously married a woman named Tammie, with whom he has a son. Rick Kirkham is married to Kristin Rosy Kirkham. As for the alleged animal abuse, Kirkham said Joe Exotic would not only kill his older tigers and then "feed them right to the other tigers," but Kirkham said he oncewatchedhim kill a horsea woman had brought him because he claimed he would take care of it and let it use his big pasture. Bush while high, according to Oxygen. He grew up with his siblings in his hometown. He was far from the only one interviewed -- Jeff Lowe, who bought Joe Exotic's animal park, has said he was interviewed for it, and others from the Joe Exotic universe will share their thoughts as well. And of course, he fed that horse to the lions. Investigators never determined who started the fire, and Maldonado-Passage denied any involvement. After completing her schooling from American Broadcasting School, he enrolled his name at the University of Central Oklahoma for his graduation. Kristian has a daughter from her previous relationship. But he is not available on Twitter and Instagram. There, he began to record footage for his show project and to shoot publicity stills. After taking the job, Kirkham moved into the G.W. Spice up your small talk with the latest tech news, products and reviews. I want to put this chapter away but it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger, he said. ET. While Baskin admitted to conversing with Kirkham, she denied making him any offer. He has also worked as a writer in several cinematographers for the Television documentary TV Freak. John Finlay. He proposed to her back in September 2017, and the two got married in 2018. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. In addition to getting convicted on two counts of murder-for-hire, Exotic was also found guilty of eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, according to a statement from The United States Attorneys Office Western District of Oklahoma. Karma came around for him in that he's now sitting in jail as the most famous man on the planet.". CNET's interview with Joel McHale where he discusses Community and Tiger King, 9 things you didn't know about Netflix's insane hit show, 7 ways to get more of Netflix's wildly popular documentary, President Trump will 'take a look' at pardoning Tiger King Joe Exotic, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Rick currently works as a freelance reporter and has Bodo Nu listed as one of his employers. Children. But before he was ever arrested on the heinous charges, Exotic talked regularly about wanting Baskin dead often on shows Kirkham helped produce. Rick Kirkham was one of the more sympathetic figures in Netflix hitTiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Ricks finances have a good chance of improving further in the future. His dog perished in the fire as well. Tiger King released in March 2020, and has since become a worldwide streaming sensation. He has also featured on the show named The Oprah Winfrey Show in the year 2007. Kirkham said Netflix interviewed him for the new episode about "my feelings about the documentary" and also "what my life has been like since" the series came out. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. The couple was living in Plano, but eventually, Rick split with his wife. The Joe Exotic years will "take up another half of my book," he said. Accompanying police on drug busts, Kirkham got to carry a gun and wear a bulletproof vest. This is Kirkhams second marriage, which he shared with his wife, Norwegian photographer Kristin Rosy. He was born on May 16th, 1958, in the United States. But soon, his continued cocaine use caused his professional and personal life to crumble. His drug addiction became so severe at one point that he was sent to rehab by his wife and Inside Edition, where he previously worked. Rick Kirkham is now married to Kristin Rosy Kirkham. Kirkham appears throughout the Netflix docuseries, primarily to discuss a internet-based show he developedfeaturing Joe Exotic. However, a March 2015 fire at the zoos production studio destroyed any dreams of Kirkham's reality show taking off. He has one sibling and is very close to his brother. Joe Exotic, the eponymous mullet-modelling big-cat fancier, went to prison having been found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill his animal . He says he sought therapy to help recover from the Joe years. Rick often posts pictures with his wife, and a recent photo shows how he is spending the lockdown. Kirkham now lives in Norway with his wife where he works as a freelance reporter, Oxygen reports, adding that he is also Facebook friends with Baskin. He had worked briefly for KFBB-TV in Montana as a news director in 2013, prior to the Joe Exotic fiasco. .css-13y9o4w{display:block;font-family:GraphikBold,GraphikBold-fallback,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-13y9o4w:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.05rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.28598rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.39461rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.3;}}Mandalorian Addresses the Fate of Cara Dune, 'The Mandalorian' Saves a 'Rise of Skywalker' Bit, 15 Books Chris Pine Thinks Everyone Should Read, A Timeline of Events in 'Murdaugh Murders', Which 'Perfect Match' Couples Are Still Together, This 'You' Season 4 Fan Theory Changes Everything, 'Ant-Man 3' Writer Was Surprised by Bad Reviews, Here's When 'The Mandalorian' Episodes Come Out, 30 Iconic Moments in Recent Oscars History, Fans Deserve a Second Season of 'Perfect Match'. 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