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Joe Exotic says he's at the end of his rope, and might not be around much longer if he doesn't get some immediate help from President Trump ... or Cardi B ... or Kim Kardashian.

TMZ's obtained a letter penned by the imprisoned 'Tiger King' star this week to his "Supporters, Fans, Loves Ones." He opens by saying the pandemic's over, so he's asking POTUS to grant him a miracle and free him ... but it's pretty bleak from there.

Joe says, "My soul is dead" and he's struggling to keep hope in what he describes as some pretty miserable conditions behind bars. He also claims he's being tormented by people sending him info about his husband, Dillon Passage, living it up on the outs and partying without him. Joe also says Dillon's gone radio silent on him.

On top of all this, Exotic claims he's not getting treatment and meds for his health conditions, and he makes a dark prediction -- "I'll be dead in 2-3 months."

Joe compares his prison sentence to death row, makes it clear he feels abandoned ... and takes some shots at people he believes took advantage of him and stabbed him in the back.

There are some more questionable parts to the letter too -- including racial comments suggesting he'd get treated better if he were a different color ... and saying George Floyd's message got lost with the rioting. Oh, and there's a Michael Jackson song reference too.

In the end, Exotic maintains his innocence ... and tosses a final Hail Mary to Cardi and Kim in hopes they'll catch it and help him out. The Cardi ship may have already sailed, though.

Of course, Joe still has a legal team working hard to get a pardon from Trump, but if this letter's to be believed ... the clock's ticking.

Carole Baskin's day of reckoning is coming after a sheriff determined the will of her ex-husband, Don Lewis, was a forgery -- at least that's what Don's daughter is hoping.

Donna Pettis tells TMZ ... the recent bombshell from Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister -- who claims he's certain Baskin forged Don's will to make it so she'd inherit his fortune if he went missing -- only confirms what she and her sisters already suspected way back in 1997.

Donna says the will was determined to be a fake by a professional back then, but Carole had her own analyst claimed the opposite and got the judge to sign off ... and Donna says her family didn't have the money or resources to fight her on it at the time.

She says since then, 4 other experts have evaluated the will and reached the same conclusion -- forgery -- but, because of the statute of limitations, there's nothing they can do. Or, is there?

Donna tells us she's been meeting with several lawyers in hopes of landing one willing to take on the high-profile case and finally get some justice for her dad.

She says she and her sisters are considering hiring 2 attorneys -- a criminal and a civil -- in order to get the ball rolling, but they're still weighing options.

The bottom line is ... Donna and her family plan to go after Baskin in whatever legal manner still possible, and they also want more action taken in investigating Lewis' death. He was declared legally dead in 2002.

Donna's not accusing Carole of killing her father, but she DOES think Carole knows more than she's ever let on and plans to get it out of her ... in a courtroom.

The band that provided the magic for Joe Exotic's unique set of songs on 'Tiger King' has good news for everyone itching for more of their good musical vibes.

Vince Johnson of The Vince Johnson Band -- who made up one half of the music duo who wrote and performed Joe's tracks featured on the Netflix series -- just inked an exclusive licensing and distribution deal with BMG Rights Management and Create Music Group.

As part of the agreement, all those Joe tunes (which are actually Vince's) will be compiled onto an album for the first time and be released on streaming services everywhere in the coming months. There'll also be some new tunes, including a cut called 'Killer Carole.' Probably won't be a big hit in Carole Baskin's crib.

We got a little taste of this gem before it officially drops Friday -- we're thinking you can add this one to your back road country playlist. No sign of Joe, though, in the pseudo-music video -- he's a little tied up right now, unfortunately.

In any case, it's great news for Vince and co. ... whom, as we previously told you, were gunning for a record deal of some sort in the wake of the show's massive popularity. Unclear if they've gotten signed to a label yet, but a licensing deal is kinda like getting halfway there.

Of course, Vince lost his longtime music collaborator -- Daniel Clinton -- who helped him pen a lot of the songs on 'Tiger King,' after he passed away from a heart attack late last year. Here's hoping Vince does him proud with this streak of good luck going forward.

Carole Baskin's vanished husband's dying wishes appear to have been concocted by somebody other than him -- so says the local sheriff still investigating the case.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told WTSP where things stood in his investigation of Don Lewis' mysterious disappearance ... which was documented on 'Tiger King.'

He said they actually had some new developments -- namely, that they've confirmed his will was, in fact, a forgery.

Sheriff Chronister doesn't even try to hedge -- he says they had two experts take a look at it, and both concluded the same thing ... it's a fake. He also says that's something his office already knew, going on to say his team was following up on some promising new leads.

Here's why the will is so important ... it has a bizarre clause that says in case of Don's disappearance Carole gets everything. Talk to any estate planning expert and they will tell you ... they've NEVER seen a clause like that -- EVER.

Now, for some bad news for folks who want justice for Don ... Sheriff Chronister says despite what he and his detectives found -- including possible malfeasance on the part of Carole -- it might end up being moot by the end of it ... 'cause there's not much they can do to charge her criminally. It's the same that often foils cases like these ... too much time.

Even on the civil end of things, the Sheriff says a judge has already deemed the will valid ... which is what allowed Carole to inherit pretty much all of Don's assets and wealth. So, not much can be done there either. Still, dude sounds determined to get to the truth.

Carole Baskin is getting more than she bargained for now that she's won control of Joe Exotic's old zoo -- Jeff Lowe says it's got at least one skeleton in the closet!!! Like, for real.

Jeff and his wife, Lauren, told us Carole's court victory is a little hollow for her, because she won't inherit any of the exotic animals you saw in the 'Tiger King' series -- they're all going to Jeff's new zoo. She's essentially getting a giant dirt lot, with some bamboo shoots, in Wynnewood, OK.

Jeff says the only bonus for Baskin is the remains of a young Native American boy buried on the property, as if Carole hasn't heard enough buzz about buried bodies.

As we reported, Carole won a $1 million judgment against Joe and his mother way back when, but Baskin never got the bread. Now, the judge says Joe's transfer of the zoo land to his mom and Jeff was fraudulent, so the judge granted Carole control of the land to help satisfy the outstanding $1 mil.

Jeff and Lauren aren't ticked about the decision at all. They told us why Carole actually deserves the land, in their opinion.

Now, back to the human remains -- Jeff hinted there's more than one skeleton on the land that used to belong to a Native American tribe. You gotta see what happened when we pressed him for more -- turns out the Lowes have a reality show in the works.

Fred Willard died from a heart attack ... according to his death certificate.

According to the doc, obtained by TMZ, the veteran comedic actor's immediate cause of death is a cardiac arrest. The underlying causes are listed as myelodysplastic syndrome and coronary artery disease.

We broke the story ... Fred died May 15, and his daughter Hope told us her father passed away peacefully and made his family "happy until the very end." The doc says he died at his home at 6:45 PM.

The death certificate also notes Fred was a veteran of the United States Armed Forces and had 60 years in the entertainment biz, and it says he was laid to rest at the famous Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

As we reported, at the time of his death, Fred's family said ... "He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much. We will miss him forever."

Fred was famous for his role as Ron Burgundy's news director in the 'Anchorman' movies and he starred in countless cult comedies throughout his career, including ... "American Wedding," "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," "How High," "The Wedding Planner," "WALL-E," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and on and on.

He was 86.

Joe Exotic isn't gonna sleep well tonight -- his nemesis, Carole Baskin, now has control of the Oklahoma zoo that used to be his, thanks to a judge's ruling.

The short story is Carole won a $1 million judgment against Joe and his mom many years ago, but she never got the dough. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the judge said Joe's transfer of the zoo land to his mother and Jeff Lowe was fraudulent. So, now the judge is granting Carole control of the land to help satisfy that $1 mil judgment from the old trademark lawsuit.

The federal judge's ruling says Jeff has 120 days to get himself and all of the animals off the property. You'll recall, he had just re-opened last month and renamed the zoo, Tiger King Park.

Doesn't sound like Jeff is too busted up about the loss of land. He and his wife, Lauren, tell TMZ, "We have long anticipated that the judge would eventually undo the 2016 land transfer. We are thankful that he dragged out his decision this long and allowed us time to complete the new Tiger King Park in Thackerville Oklahoma, behind the World’s largest casino."

If you hadn't heard, Jeff was already planning to ditch Joe's old Tiger King Park property in Wynnewood, OK.

Jeff and Lauren continued, "Considering [Carole] spent approximately 2.5M chasing her 1M judgment, we congratulate her on her new acquisition of 16 acres in rural Oklahoma."

They took one parting shot, saying, "The possibility of human remains being buried on this land should make her feel right at home."

Yeah, we think Joe would second that emotion.

Joe Exotic's meteoric rise from farm boy to 'Tiger King' fame is all laid out in an upcoming comic book ... and TMZ has the first look at Joe's origin story and its special edition cover.

TMZ obtained a couple pages from Michael Frizell and TidalWave Production's new project, "Infamous Tiger King," which hits the shelves at the end of June, and it's pretty wild.

The graphic novel (AKA serious comic book) picks up where 'Tiger King' left off, with Joe behind bars and Jeff Lowe running the zoo ... and it depicts Joe as a larger-than-life character as it dives into his crazy journey from rural Kansas to pop culture icon.

Joe's nemesis, big cat animal rescuer Carole Baskin, even graces one of the covers alongside him ... and another features a tiger wearing a crown and Joe's signature earrings.

Justin Hartley's got a new bae by his side ... or so it seems.

The "This Is Us" star planted a wet one on a mystery woman Thursday as she dropped him off at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in the L.A. area. It's unclear who she is at the moment ... but they must be pretty close for her to be the one dropping him off to his orthopedic's office. She was also the one who picked him up several hours later.

It's the first time Justin's been spotted with someone new since he filed for divorce from "Selling Sunset" star Chrishell Stause back in November. As we reported days after Justin filed docs ... Chrishell strongly hinted she was blindsided by the divorce docs.

And, then things really got ugly. As we first reported ... Chrishell called BS on the date of separation Justin listed in his divorce docs. You'll recall Justin listed July 8, 2019 as the date of separation but she says it was more like November 22, 2019.

We know they were out together in public together multiple times between July and November, so, yes, Justin's early separation date is puzzling. Our sources told us Chrishell didn't think it's all that puzzling ... since all signs seem to point to some sort of deal Justin may have inked, believing he just doesn't want her to get a slice of the bigger pie.

In any event ... Justin appears to have moved on, but the divorce rages on.

Originally Published -- 11:37 AM PT

Carole Baskin sees Joe Exotic's sold-out fashion line, and raises him a sold-out trading card collection!!!

The 'Tiger King' star and her loyal, and very much alive husband, Howard, autographed 400 official Leaf collectible trading cards plastered with their smiling mugs. That's all it took for a bunch of cool cats and kittens to clean out the entire collection in a matter of minutes!

The autographed trading cards, which feature CB and HB rocking matching big cat costumes, went up for sale this week at $99 a pop ... and they disappeared faster than Carole's previous hubby, Don. We're talking just 24 minutes.

It's a pretty impressive debut for Carole and Howard ... the trading cards were the Baskins' first ever signed collectibles.

If you missed out on the signed cards, there is a small consolation prize available.

As we first reported ... the Baskins partnered with Leaf for some good, old-fashioned trading cards, and the non-autographed versions are still selling for $8 each or $200 for a pack of 50.

Japanese pro wrestler Hana Kimura -- a featured member of Netflix's hit show, "Terrace House" -- has died at age 22.

Stardom Wrestling confirmed Kimura's death on Friday ... saying "We are very sorry to report that our Hana Kimura has passed away."

"Please be respectful and allow some time for things to process, and keep your thoughts and prayers with her family and friends."

"We appreciate your support during this difficult time."

Kimura made her debut at Wrestle-1 and won her first title at the JWP Junior plate in 2016 ... and officially joined Stardom in 2019.

Kimura was famously a leader of the Tokyo Cyber Squad ... a fan favorite among Japanese wrestling fans.

Hana was a beloved character on "Terrace House" ... with many attaching themselves to her hopeless romantic character.

The eagle has landed in D.C. for 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic, whose legal team is hoping they can get the President's ear ... and they even got their elevator pitch down to a tee.

Eric Love -- who's heading up the team of top-notch attorneys out of Fort Worth, TX -- came on ''TMZ Live'' Wednesday with a major update on their cross-country road trip down to the nation's capital, in hopes of receiving presidential pardon for Joe from Donald Trump.

He says they've finally arrived, and are out cruising the town parading their huge bus around ... ya know, the one with the piercing "PARDON JOE EXOTIC" wrap on both sides.

Anyway, that's not even the biggest news from their touching down -- Eric claims DT's aware of their presence. Citing his own sources, Eric says Trump and some of his fam know the dealio -- Secret Service does too, apparently -- but there's still no guarantee of getting a meeting with the guy at this point. Not to worry, though ... they're staying hopeful.

We also asked Eric to dish out a mock 30-second spiel on why Joe should get sprung. Watch ... sounds like Eric's gonna appeal to Trump's sense of being wronged and targeted.

Heeeere's Johnny Tsunami -- the iconic Disney Channel character -- shocking the hell outta 'Tiger King' star Saff Saffery, and it's an awesome moment of mutual fandom!

The surprise celeb encounter went down on "The Relunchables" podcast, while Saff was being interviewed by the host, Jordan Holtzer.

Saff's made no secret about wanting former Disney Channel star Brandon Baker -- star of '90s classics "Johnny Tsunami" and "The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story" -- to play him on the big screen. As you know, everyone's expecting Joe Exotic's tiger tales to become a feature film.

So, when Saff sat down for the podcast, he got a big surprise -- Jordan hooked it up and got Brandon to join the Zoom call, and Saff went full fanboy. His initial reaction is priceless!

Brandon and Saff chatted for about 20 minutes, and while Saff is clearly a "Johnny Tsunami" superfan -- turns out Brandon's a big 'Tiger King' fan too.

Joe Exotic's legal team is hours away from pulling up to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with the goal of bending Donald Trump's ear for a pardon, and it turns out this isn't the first time Joe wanted to bend Trump's ear.

Turns out Joe was something of a Donald Trump fan back in 2016, despite the fact Joe himself was running for President. Joe attended a Trump campaign event just outside Oklahoma City and plunked down $1,000 to meet and greet DT.

Joe left the home where the shindig was going down to smoke a cig, and when he tried to go back in he says he was blocked by the Secret Service. He says they told him once anyone left they couldn't get back in, but our sources say Joe was acting "starstruck" and the agents were taken aback by him ... they say he was acting a little odd.

Joe seemed to think the reason he was not let back in was because when he showed his ID, the agents saw he had a concealed-carry permit.

So, under the heading -- if you don't succeed, try, try again -- Joe's legal team will be rolling up to The White House Tuesday to ask Trump for a pardon. As you know Joe was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his archnemesis, Carole Baskin, along with animal-related crimes. Lots of people think Joe didn't get a fair shake at trial, and his legal team is making a full-court press to spring him from the big house.

Stay tuned ... it's gonna get interesting.

Joe Exotic's new legal team is true to its word -- they hit the road bright and early Monday AM, heading for Washington D.C. ... where they hope to ask President Trump to pardon the 'Tiger King' star.

Team Tiger's leader, Eric Love, just shared a video update from the official "Please Pardon Joe Exotic" tour bus ... saying they're en route to The White House with one goal in mind.

Love says they have some live entertainment onboard to pass the time -- it's a 1,300-mile drive -- and he's really loving all the support and encouragement from Joe's fans along the way.

As we first told you ... Love and the rest of the Exotic's legal dream team out of Fort Worth are hoping their trip to the nation's capital will grab the President's interest, in case the Texas-style video asking him for a pardon didn't do the trick.

Team Tiger's stance is not just that Joe's not guilty of trying to get Carole Baskin killed ... he was actually framed.

Exotic's lawyers are also appealing Joe's conviction and pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against several people involved in his criminal trial.

Of course, a pardon from POTUS is a huge ask ... but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Trump joked about it when talking about the 'Tiger King' at a coronavirus briefing ... so it's already on his radar.  If he thinks Joe can help him in November ... who knows?