Tiger King’s Jeff Lowe Hospitalized For Mysterious Stroke - And His Wife Suspects Poison!

It’s been a while since we had to think about the Tiger King gang.

Just last week was the one year anniversary of Tiger King hitting Netflix. The show was a complete phenomenon, the first real “quarantine binge” of the coronavirus lockdown. People were dressing up like Joe Exotic and the other eccentric subjects of the docuseries, weighing in on the guilt or innocence of Carole Baskin, and generally going nuts for the wild tale of “murder, mayhem and madness” in the big cat world.

But we’ll be honest, a year later, the charm of Tiger King has really worn off. Joe got tangled up with the Trumps from prison and Carole joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars, and all the while we’ve been in various stages of quarantine for WAY too long. So at this point, it really brings us no pleasure to report the latest on Jeff Lowe, Joe’s former business partner-turned-enemy.

Last we heard of Jeff, he had to turn over the G.W. Zoo to Carole. Now, his wife Lauren Lowe has shared with TMZ that the zookeeper suffered a stroke which left him unresponsive in an Oklahoma casino on March 18. He wasn’t breathing when she found him, and told the outlet:

“I thought he was dying in my arms.”

He was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Denton, TX, where doctors were able to save his life — but weren’t able to determine what caused the stroke. The mysterious circumstances around his condition has caused Lauren to suspect foul play. She explained to TMZ that a mysterious man approached the couple hours before the 53-year old fell ill, claiming he knew them and “even knew their favorite drink orders.”

They didn’t recognize the man, but he “lingered when a crowd of Tiger King fans gathered to take selfies with them.” Lauren believes the man may have spiked Jeff’s drink and caused the stroke. Though her husband’s blood and urine tests “came back negative for commonly abused drugs,” she thinks he might have used something “more exotic.”

Jeff is now home and recovering, though she told the outlet he’s “still having difficulties with speech and coordination.” As it happens, the Netflix star was due in court in Las Vegas earlier this week, following up on a 2018 conviction for illegally using animals to make money in the Las Vegas valley, according to local ABC affiliate KTNV Las Vegas. Of course, he failed to appear — and the judge ordered proof that he was actually in the hospital as his lawyer claimed. Another hearing has been scheduled for early April.

Does all the drama satisfy your Tiger King nostalgia, Perezcious readers? Maybe an anniversary special is in order… LOLz.

[Image via Netflix]