Joe Exotic Gets Real Deep About His New Found Prison Romance

Joe Exotic, born Joseph Maldonado-Passage, revealed that he couldn't wait to get married to his prison beau, John Graham. The convicted felon was sentenced to 22 years in prison in January 2020 after two failed attempts to assassinate Carole Baskin.

While there, the 59-year-old apparently started a romance with one of his now released prison inmates. He officially filed a divorce from his estranged husband Dillon Passage in March this year after the duo announced their separation a year earlier.

In a recently acquired letter, Joe detailed his relationship with his new partner, now engaged, and how they are waiting for the divorce to be finalized before getting married. He also dedicated a section of the letter to Passage, calling the 25-year-old selfish and only focused on party going.

Joe recently opened up about his budding romance with former prison mate, Graham. The 59-year-old also talked about his ongoing divorce filing from Passage. In a letter provided by TMZ through the media personality's attorney Autumn Beck Blackledge, Joe detailed his relationship with Graham and how the couple got engaged.

The "Tiger King" star likened their relationship to that of "Twilight" because of how quickly they got attracted to each other while they were "housed in the same unit." He wrote, "If you ever watched "Twilight," it's as close as that."

Joe revealed in the letter that since Graham was released from prison a while ago, the two have continued to remain in contact. They apparently wrote to each other several times a week and had phone conversations "3 times a day."

Joe wrote about his lover's belief in witchcraft and the way he spoke. "John talks like he is from 400 years ago," the 59-year-old wrote. "He is a practicing witch and is extremely romantic and caring. The love we share is like no other I've ever experienced."

Joe didn't limit his letter to writing good things about his new relationship. The former chief of police accused his estranged husband of being "selfish, younger, all about a party and wanting to be famous."

He added that he felt like Passage's offer was "extortion," and it gave him "sole rights to anything in his possession." Joe claimed he was the most generous to Passage when they were together and gave him whatever he wanted, but now the 25-year-old just thought it fit to "move on."

On the other hand, Graham is older (36 years old), has a son, and allegedly doesn't want to be in the spotlight. Joe continued, "As soon as Dillon signs the divorce and it's final, If I'm still here, John and I want to get legally married right away even if he has to come here. When I get home John's dream is to marry me in an ancient forest, like in WA [Washington] or ORG [Oregon], and [have it] only be with his family."

Joe previously filed for divorce from his estranged husband, Passage. The media personality made his move on March 31, 2022, almost a year after Passage declared that they had split up but reportedly didn't serve Joe papers.

The 59-year-old's lawyer alleged that Joe tried to get in touch with his estranged husband but could not. Joe's lawyers also said that Passage "failed to serve his husband and did not follow through with obtaining a divorce through the legal system."

However, these claims got rebuffed by Passage and his lawyers, who said that the divorce didn't go the way Joe's lawyers were painting it. The 25-year-old's representatives, Chris Kirker and Holly Davis from Kirker Davis LLP, claimed the "Tiger King" star had a history of "stretching the truth for personal gain," and this was just another case of him doing the same.

In a statement released by the law firm, Joe's lawyer got allegedly presented with "a full and comprehensive settlement agreement" in September 2021, and the 59-year-old apparently refused to sign it.

The statement read, "Despite Joe's false claim that Dillon did not attempt to obtain a divorce through legal means, the Kirker David Law Firm presented a full and comprehensive settlement agreement to Joe's lawyer, Francisco Hernandez, on September 3, 2021."

They continued, "On September 8, 2021, at 4:59 p.m. CST, our office received an email from Joe that said, 'It will be a cold day in hell before I sign these papers' and 'Your out of your f---n mind' [sic]." The law firm then revealed that not long after Joe's response, the convicted felon revealed that he was currently fighting cancer, so Passage put a hold on the filing out of respect.

"Our firm always urges clients to take the high road, and we applauded his compassionate decision. But Dillon now feels compelled to counter the untrue statements that Joe is making publicly," they added. "Dillon is eager to efficiently finally the divorce agreement he proposed in September of 2021."