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Miranda Lambert Hit With Backlash Over Photos With ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic

Country music star and animal lover Miranda Lambert posted an old photo of herself with Joe Exotic, the star of the hit Netflix documentary series “Tiger King.” It didn’t take long for fans to notice and give her a piece of their mind.

Lambert Poses With Joe Exotic

Fans of the Neflix series know that Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for more than one crime. Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, is serving his sentence for a murder-for-hire plot to kill his arch-rival Carole Baskin. And, also for animal cruelty charges related to him killing tigers to make room for more big cats at his exotic animal park.

That’s why fans were stunned yesterday when Lambert posted photos of herself posing with Exotic.

People Magazine reported that fans were stunned by the photos given the fact that Lambert is the founder of the MuttNation Foundation, which aims to “promote and facilitate the adoption of shelter pets.”

She also personally owns various different pets on her farm, which is located near Nashville, Tennessee.

Lambert Hit With Backlash

Fans were quick to let Lambert know that the photos were inappropriate.

Lambert Tries To Clarify Images

After three hours of solid backlash, Lambert added a clarification to explain what she claims is her side of the story behind the images:

“Backstory: During Hurricane Harvey, the MuttNation Team went to Houston to help relocate existing shelter dogs to free up shelter space for animals separated by their owners. MuttNation asked for volunteers who could transport some dogs from Houston to shelters in Oklahoma, where there was more room and they could be treated and adopted. Some guy named Joe volunteered his trailer and staff. Now I know it’s ‘Joe Exotic.’

“I’ve never been to his zoo and I didn’t even know he had tigers. OBVIOUSLY I’d never condone animals being treated badly.”

If Lambert’s story is true, fans should probably cut her some slack.

She would have had no way of knowing about Exotic’s alleged crimes, and since she likely gets asked to pose for photos with thousands of people every year, she can’t be expected to know the background of every single person.

That being said, Lambert might want to think twice about keeping the photos up on her personal Twitter page.

Even if the photos themselves aren’t something that she should blame herself for, having them proudly displayed on her own social media page isn’t the best look for a self-proclaimed animal rights activist.

James Conrad

James Conrad’s passion for politics is only overshadowed by his longstanding interest in Hollywood. His unique perspective as a gay conservative fuels him to challenge celebrity views and those who think they have a right to tell anyone how to think or vote. James proudly wields his minority point of view to combat identity politics and cut through his typecast. Fun fact: James’ guilty pleasure is the British royal family.