Netflix fans have been loving one of the latest additions, Tiger King – which was recently lauded as the most popular series in the US.
Viewers have been confused by former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal appearing in the series, and Shaq has recently explained the cameo.
The seven part docuseries shows Shaq visiting the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, where he took photos with Maldonado-Passage.
On The Big Podcast with Shaq, the ex-basketball star explained he loves tigers, and that on his way to play Oklahoma City in a basketball game a few years ago he saw a sign for a tiger sanctuary.
Shaq said: ‘We go in there and it’s a beautiful place and the character that was there was Exotic Joe. We went back a couple times. Then we…found out that he’s involved in all the stuff and then, actually, I stopped going. I had no idea all that stuff was going on.’
O’Neal added that he had watched the series in full and wasn’t worried that he’d been seen negatively due to the cameo. ‘People that know me, they know I’m righteous. I don’t harm tigers. I love tigers.’
Maldonado-Passage was given 22 years in prison in January due to convictions for multiple charges, such as an alleged murder for hire plot against his adversary Carole Baskin.
