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In his final hours as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump issued an impressive 143 pardons and reductions in sentences - almost last minute.
The list of pardons includes illustrious people such as Trump's former advisor and right-wing populist Steve Bannon, as well as the two rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.
Sounds funny at first glance, but it's pretty questionable.
But one who had long hoped for the support of the ex-president went away empty-handed: Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic.
The former zoo owner, whom many know from the Netflix documentary series "Big Cats and Their Predators" (in the English-language original simply "Tiger King"), was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2019 for attempting to assign a murder order to his competitor, the animal rights activist Carole Baskin, as well convicted of violating the keeping rules for exotic animal species.
Joe Exotic's supporters in the fight for his pardon call themselves "Team Tiger"
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Ever since he was imprisoned, he has tried everything possible to get his self-proclaimed fan Donald Trump to pardon him.
His hopes were apparently so high that on the day Joe Biden was sworn in as the new US President, the convicted Bird of Paradise even ordered a luxury limousine in front of the Federal Medical Center Fort Worth - the same penal institution where the 57-year-old was is currently detained.
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A hairstylist is said to have been on board.
Joe does not want the public to see his hair unstyled, so Exotic's confidante, the private investigator Eric Love, told the British daily "Sun".
His legal team even said that Trump would personally pick up Exotic from the Texas prison.
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But the limousine had to leave without the Tiger King - and Donald Trump wasn't around either.
The Netflix star had good prerequisites for a pardon from the then president.
When the Covid 19 pandemic led to a lockdown in the USA, the true crime documentary series about the unusual big cat zoo operator who was involved in all kinds of dubious and criminal machinations started on the streaming portal Netflix.
The series became a cult - and with it Joe Exotic
When Joe Exotic's lawyers honored Trump with a visit to the White House in May 2020, the then-President assured him that he would be looking at a possible pardon.
He wants to discuss all possibilities.
In addition, Exotic Trump wrote a 257 page letter in which he set out his case.
In December last year, he reached out to influencer Kim Kardashian for help.
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All in vain.
The former zoo owner spoke up in a statement on Twitter.
About his lawyers he had it announced:
I guess I'm too innocent and too gay to be pardoned by President Trump.
Joe Exotic, former zoo owner in custody
According to his own statements, Joe Exotic has been married to his partner Dillon Passage since 2017.
Now the Tiger King will probably have to serve his full sentence until 2037.
He would be 74 years old at the time of his release.