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A famous Vegas magician is looking to pick up where Siegfried and Roy left off -- so, naturally, he went to go see the biggest cat man in the game right now ... one Jeff Lowe.

Sources tell TMZ ... Murray SawChuck -- who's got his own residency show at the Tropicana Hotel in Sin City -- recently linked up with Jeff to talk shop and discuss the possibility of obtaining some tigers for a potential new act he wants to introduce on the strip.

Our sources say Murray took note of Roy Horn's tragic passing of late, and saw an opening for another tiger magic show that he might just wanna fill ... and in light of the hit Netflix series, figured he'd get in touch with Jeff to see if there was a deal they could make.

Murray the Magician (as he's known in Vegas) ventured out to Oklahoma City to make it happen, and stopped by Jeff's 'Tiger King' Zoo -- formerly known as Joe Exotic's GW Zoo -- and toured the grounds. Later ... Jeff and Murray, with their ladies in tow, hit the town and ended up at a packed bar called Kong's Tavern, where they got the VIP treatment.

Sounds like things went off without a hitch, but we should say ... our sources say Jeff is still considering the offer and hasn't made any decisions on whether to partner with Murray.

'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic and his new legal team had nothing to do with a helicopter flying over his old zoo ... according to sources close to the FAA investigation.

We broke the story ... Joe's former business partner, Jeff Lowe, filed a complaint over a chopper illegally flying near his Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park last week in Oklahoma.

Jeff suspected Exotic's legal team was involved because the aircraft's tail number matched the one they used in a promo video for Joe ... but TMZ's learned that's not the case.

Sources close to the investigation tell us a chopper did fly over the zoo on the afternoon of May 10, but the pilot told investigators he was simply taking his daughter and her friend on a ride to check it out ... and he thought the zoo was closed.

We're told the pilot claims he did a few orbits outside the zoo's boundaries and maintained a safe level of altitude ... and says his flight tracker logs will prove it.

Our sources say the pilot also made it clear to the FAA he was not hired by Joe's legal team to spy on Lowe's zoo or upset the animals ... the trip was just something to do during quarantine boredom.

However, the pilot was hired by Exotic's Team Tiger for its video to push for Joe's Presidential pardon. A source close to the pilot says he owns it and has been flying for 30 years ... but absolutely was not hired by the team to fly to the zoo.

Joe Exotic's massive new legal team is chomping at the bit to ask Donald Trump for a presidential pardon for the 'Tiger King' ... and they're ready to flood the White House!!!

Eric Love, the super-colorful figure leading Joe's legal team, just checked in from the HQ in Ft. Worth, Texas ... telling us they're hitting the road bright and early Monday en route to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

As you can see ... the big bus wrapped in a plea to get Joe sprung from prison looks all gassed up and ready to go to D.C. ... and Eric says they're gonna enjoy the weekend then get down to brass tacks.

As we first reported ... Joe's legal team produced a Texas-style video asking POTUS for a pardon, claiming the 'Tiger King' is not only NOT GUILTY of trying to get Carole Baskin whacked ... he was also FRAMED.

Joe's army of lawyers will attack on all fronts ... they're appealing Joe's conviction, asking Trump for a pardon and even pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of people involved in Joe's criminal trial.

As you know ... there's also evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind with Joe, because he told us his testimony against Exotic was "payback" and he wished he could've done even more to hurt Joe.

And, as we previously reported ... Trump actually joked about a pardon for Joe when talking about the 'Tiger King' at a coronavirus briefing.

Carole Baskin is on a whole new level of pop culture success ... one even Joe Exotic hasn't gotten his paws on yet -- good old-fashioned trading cards!!!

The 'Tiger King' star -- as well as her loyal (and living) husband, Howard -- now have their mugs plastered across official Leaf collectible trading cards ... and they're certainly dressed for the occasion. CB and HB's cover pic has them rocking matching big cat costumes.

Now, while Carole's been reluctant to give interviews, and seems to have beef with how Netflix portrayed her -- namely, suggesting she possibly had something to do with the disappearance of her previous hubby, Don -- she's actually cool with this merch rolling out.

Leaf says this is a mutual partnership with the Baskins -- and you can tell everyone involved is on the same page from their description on the card. Not coincidentally, we think, there is NO mention whatsoever of Don.

The card says, "Howard and Carole Baskin are leading big cats rights advocates. The couple operates Big Cat Rescue near Tampa, Florida. The debate over exotic animals in private zoos hit a fever pitch with the 2020 Netflix documentary, Tiger King."

It goes on to note the huge ratings it pulled, and how it launched the Baskins into the limelight. They also take a dig at Joe, writing ... "'Joe Exotic' was sentenced to 22 years in 2019, when convicted of 17 federal charges including 'murder for hire' targeting Carole Baskin."

"Too Hot to Handle" star Bryce Hirschberg made a huge splash with a girl who's the spitting image of his new GF and costar, Nicole O'Brien ... but it's not what it looks like.

Bryce was recently spotted with model Khloe Terae in Marina del Rey for a little paddleboarding action. They looked kinda flirty ... he splashed her with some water and they laughed while enjoying some Vitamin D.

But, again, it's not what it seems. Sources tell us Bryce and Khloe are just friends. Great news, for sure, since Nicole just revealed during the hit Netflix show's reunion that she and Bryce are definitely dating.

They didn't hit it off during the show but reconnected after filming ended. They've been doing some serious long-distance, but things appear to be getting serious ... 'cause Nicole told the BBC she's ready to introduce Bryce to her family in Ireland.

To recap here ... Bryce and Khloe -- even though she's a smoke show -- are just friends and he's definitely still dating Nicole.

Joe Exotic is getting some sweet revenge as the face of a new fashion line ... because the "REVENGE" collection is already selling like hotcakes!!!

The 'Tiger King' star officially signed a deal with streetwear brand Odaingerous April 30, and his pact with the L.A.-based company is a 6-month partnership ... Odaingerous owner Odain Watson tells TMZ.

Joe's fashion line is in demand ... we're told Monday's soft launch sold out within hours and raked in more than $20,000 in online sales.

While the first wave of merch was cleaned out in a nanosecond, the full collection went up for sale Wednesday and we're told already more than 7,000 items have sold.

The collection includes joggers, hoodies, and graphic T-shirts emblazoned with Joe's name and, naturally, tiger imagery.

As we reported, Joe and his team negotiated the deal with Odaingerous over prison letters and phone calls.

The fashion line is pretty up to date ... in a sign of the times, Joe's even peddling face coverings. Savvy move.

Odaingerous honchos even flew down to Texas and outfitted the 'Tiger King' legal team and everyone on the Pardon Joe Exotic bus with fresh gear.

"Mike the Tiger is not my favorite part of campus."

Heisman winner Joe Burrow says he's not a big fan of LSU having a live mascot ... saying he's against keeping wild animals in captivity.

The #1 overall pick made the revelation while discussing the super-popular Netflix doc, "Tiger King," on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" on Friday ... saying he probably won't tune in to the series due to the subject matter.

"Actually, I haven't watched it yet," Burrow says. "I'm anti animal in cage. So, I'm not gonna watch it, I don't think."

That's when co-host Big Cat brought up Mike VII -- LSU's beloved mascot that lives on campus -- and Burrow said he was against the idea.

FWIW -- Mike has a huge habitat on campus for students to check out the kitty in between classes ... and there's a vet on-site to make sure all is well.

There's even a live cam for people across the world to check in on Mike ... although the thing seems to be chilling most of the time.

As for "Tiger King," Big Cat and PFT Commenter say it's probably for the best he sits that one out ... and Burrow agrees.

"Very sad, yeah."

The good news?? Burrow's Cincinnati Bengals don't have a live mascot ... they just have a grown-ass dude dressed up as a tiger named "Who Dey" ... so, silver lining!!

Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.

The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.

The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.

The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.

As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.

There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.

Lily Allen seems like she's officially off the market ... because it looks like she's engaged to David Harbour, and she's got the rock to prove it.

Lily stoked engagement rumors once again Thursday, posting a sultry snap to her social media and bragging about her physique ... but a closer look reveals what appears to be an engagement ring, and yes it's on THAT finger.

One of Lily's 1.2 million eagle-eyed Instagram followers straight-up asked her in the comments if she's indeed wearing an engagement ring, and Lily's answer was telling ... she replied, "First rule of engagement club...."

So, there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

The Grammy-nominated singer and "Stranger Things" star are notoriously private about their relationship ... the couple only officially announced they were an item earlier this year after months of dating.

We reached out to reps for both Lily and David to confirm their engagement ... so far, no word back.

But, Lily's picture and comment kinda speak for themselves.

Joe Exotic woulda loved to see this ... his beloved zoo is packed to the gills, as hundreds flocked to his old stomping grounds for the first time since 'Tiger King' dropped.

A huge crowd was on hand this weekend at the zoo once owned by Joe ... it's now called Tiger King Park, and it's finally cashing in on Joe's Netflix notoriety and recent injection of fame.

There was a long line to get inside the zoo in Wynnewood, OK after it reopened under new CDC social distancing and sanitation protocols. The zoo had been shuttered by coronavirus restrictions and seems like people were ready to pounce when it opened back up.

Folks who were there tell us people and families came from all over the country to see what the hype was about ... and there were hundreds of new visitors.

Once inside the zoo, formerly known as G.W. Exotic Animal Park, most folks seemed to cast social distancing rules to the wayside ... face coverings were few and far between, and people crammed together to see the big attractions -- lions and tigers.

As you can see ... Tiger cub petting was in full effect, and people sat shoulder-to-shoulder as they patiently waited for a chance to play with the cubs and meet zookeeper Erik Cowie.

While Joe's no doubt the reason the zoo is buzzing again coming off his 'Tiger King' fame ... the long lines and crowds lined the pockets of the new owner and Joe's former business partner, Jeff Lowe.

Jeff and his wife, Lauren, greeted people as they walked around, and fans also got a chance to meet alleged hitman Allen Glover, the star witness at Joe's trial.

Sorry, Carol Baskin ... people still wanna see Joe's tigers.

Joe Exotic is going right to the top in his bid to undo his criminal conviction for attempting to kill his archrival ... he's going right to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to ask for a pardon.

Sources connected to the 'Tiger King' star tell TMZ, Joe's legal team out of Ft. Worth, Texas is preparing a case file that will be sent on to Trump, claiming Joe was wrongly convicted for the murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin.

They wrapped a big bus and plan to roll out the big announcement in a few days, but the endgame is clear ... get Joe out of prison.

There are interesting grounds for a pardon. For starters, Joe told everyone who would listen that he wanted Carol dead and even suggested to various people -- some he hardly knew -- that he'd pay as much as $50,000 to have Carol murdered.

Typically, people who seriously hire people to kill people don't tell everyone who would listen that they're marketing a murder plot.

What's more ... the alleged hitman, Allen Glover, was the star witness at Joe's trial, because he's the only one who took money from Joe. Glover says Joe gave him $3k for the hit ... Joe says it was to get Allen the hell out of the zoo.

We interviewed Glover for our TMZ Fox special a few weeks ago, and he made it clear ... this was "payback" and Glover says Joe caused so much misery to people and animals, he wishes he could have done more to hurt him. That's what you call a biased witness, and if the jury heard that they may have discounted his testimony.

And, there's even more ... the prosecutor in the case also charged Joe with killing tigers. His lawyers feel it was done just to dirty Joe up, to make the jury hate him, so they would convict him of ordering the hit on Carol.

Carole Baskin has been impossible to get a hold of for an interview in the wake of 'Tiger King' -- but two clever Brits got her to open her yap ... under incredibly false pretenses.

The two dudes are Archie Manners and Josh Pieters, who are two YouTube pranksters who go around tricking celebs into giving phony interviews with what the duped believe to be late-night talk show hosts. They've had a lot of success ... now, they wanted Carole.

Check out their in-depth video of how they pulled it off -- it's pretty freakin' elaborate (and hilarious). Long story very short ... they posed as producers for "The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon" and reached out to Carole via email for a possible Skype/Zoom interview.

At first, she shot them down ... citing the blanket policy Carole and her current hubby, Howard, have been giving just about everyone these days -- no interview, no dice. They also regurgitated the line that they believe Netflix falsely suggested and/or implied she had something to do with her first husband, Don's disappearance and presumed death.

The dudes kept at it though, insisting they would NOT talk about anything 'Tiger King'-related with Jimmy, and promised to keep the topic strictly on cats and her sanctuary.

You gotta watch the rest, 'cause the lady bought it and agreed to do it under those terms. As for how they got JF's voice on there, that's a thing of beauty too -- they pulled old audio clips of him interviewing other celebs and tossed 'em to her live during the interview.

It's literally the oldest trick in the book -- and kinda reminiscent of that famous "True Lies" scene -- but the greatest part ... CAROLE BASKIN FELL FOR IT!!! Hook, line and sinker.

Check out what she had to say about how she and Howard are dealing in quarantine, and how they're handling all her big cats. Oh yeah, they also got her to put on her flower crown.

Bow down to these viral geniuses ... we are not worthy!!!

David Thibodeau, a real-life survivor of the Waco siege, wants to thank Netflix for getting people talking about the tragedy again, and says now's the time to reveal some untold stories about it.

Thibodeau, who's played by actor Rory Culkin in the series, "Waco" tells TMZ ... he's incredibly grateful Netflix not only revived the show last month, but made it a huge hit.

ICYMI ... "Waco" originally aired in January 2018 on the fledgling Paramount Network. It got off to a strong start in the rating game but quickly faded.

Once it got on Netflix, though, it's remained in the platform's top 10. In short, the 2-year-old show -- about a 27-year-old siege -- is back in pop culture.

Thibodeau says Netflix's next step should be to order a docuseries on the 1993 catastrophe. As one of the few surviving members of the Branch Davidians ... he wants to speak out for the people he lost.

If you're under 35 ... the Waco siege was a 51-day standoff between Branch Davidians leader David Koresh and the FBI ... which believed the religious sect was illegally stockpiling weapons.

Thibodeau was among the group holed up in Koresh's compound and 1 of only 9 survivors, which inspired him to write the 1999 memoir "A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story."

The show was partly based on his book, and he was a consultant on it as well as an actor. He's down to consult again if a Waco docuseries gets the green light.

The star of Netflix's "Greenhouse Academy" has been arrested after he allegedly struck two cars, injuring one of the occupants, and then leaving the scene.

Chris O'Neal was driving in the San Fernando Valley at around 11 PM Friday when he struck 2 cars, injuring one of the people inside ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Cops got 2 911 calls from different people, responded to the scene and saw tire tracks. They followed the tracks to a nearby front lawn where they found Chris' '94 Camaro with the actor inside, fully awake.

They gave him a field sobriety test and say he blew just over the legal limit.

Chris, who also starred in Nickelodeon's "How to Rock," "Swindle" and "You Gotta See This," was arrested for felony hit and run and felony DUI.

As for the person who was hurt in the crash ... we're told the injuries are minor.