Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (née Schreibvogel) or Joe Exotic is a type of person who will stand out in any given crowd. He is intelligent, resourceful, infinitely charming. If the statements of several people close to him are any clues, he has a questionable moral sense. Despite this, Joe attracted a massive following, and you can see why. When the audience sees him on screen, they completely identify with him because they think he’s just an ordinary person like them. In doing so, they often deliberately overlook the darker aspects of his character, why he was incarcerated, and the other crimes he was charged with.
Joe is unmistakably gay in both the Netflix true-crime documentary series “Tiger King” and the dark comedy crime drama series Peacock “Joe vs. Carole.” However, there are rumors floating around that Joe has a son, and he supposedly appears in the first season of ‘Tiger King’. Here’s everything you need to know about it. FRONT SPOILERS.
Does Joe Exotic have a child?
During a live Q&A session in April 2020, Rick Kirkham, Joe’s former producer, claimed that Joe had a secret wife and son. According to him, Joe was in a relationship with a woman named Kim, and they had a son together, Brandon, who at the time of this interview was 38. Kirkman also claimed that Joe was married to a woman. However, the former “Inside Edition” host didn’t explain if this woman and Kim were the same person.
Earlier in April 2020, Joe’s niece Chealsi Putman said virtually the same while speaking to DailyMailTV. Joe was appointed chief of police in the small town of Eastvale, Texas in the early 1980s. He met Kim there. As of 2020, their son, Brandon Chappell, had three children himself. “Joe was in and out of Brandon’s life when he was growing up, at one point just a few years ago Brandon and his then wife were both working at the zoo. [Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park or the G.W. Zoo] with Joe,” Putman said.
“Joe was walking around telling everyone it was his son, he didn’t hide it,” she added. “Brandon was even in a few scenes on the Netflix show.” According to her, father and son had a fight when Joe asked Brandon’s wife to commit financial fraud for him. Brandon and his family then returned to Texas. Kirkman also mentioned that Brandon appeared in the Netflix documentary, but the producers did not identify him as Joe’s son.
However, Dillon Passage, Joe’s estranged husband, disputed this during an interview on Channel Q’s The Morning Bea, saying Brandon was actually the child of Kim and Joe’s brother. Kim is probably Kimberly Kraft, who appears in the second season of “Tiger King”. Joe got engaged to her at some point and they lived together for several years, but Joe claimed they never had sex. Kim had two sons at the time, and they later became quite close to Joe and her first husband, Brian Rhyne.
In April 2021, Joe took to Instagram to clarify that Brandon Chappell was not his son, adding that he was willing to take a blood test to prove that neither Brandon nor anyone else was his child.
Where is Brandon Chappell now?
Not much is known about Brandon’s current whereabouts. Kirkham and Putman told the media that Brandon was treated badly by Joe. According to Kirkham, Joe expected more of Brandon than other employees and wanted him to work hard and show leadership qualities. Putman said Brandon and his family eventually returned to Texas. Given that this is Brandon’s last known location, he’s likely still in the Lone Star State.
Read more: Who is JP Wilson? Did he invent Joe Exotic?
