Michael Jackson Once Owned Alligators Killed in Fire at Joe Exotic’s Zoo

Sporting a shirt and a set of shiny new teeth, Joe Exotic‘s first “husband” John Finlay confirmed on Lights Out with David Spade that the seven alligators and one crocodile burned alive inside the G.W. Exotic Animal Park in 2015 were previously owned by Michael Jackson. This was a fact not mentioned on the popular Netflix docuseries Tiger King.  

An April 2015 article in the Los Angeles Times reported the alligators and crocodile that Exotic vividly described in a YouTube video as “boiling alive in a towering inferno” belonged to the King of Pop. “One of the previous managers had gotten us Michael Jackson’s alligators from Neverland Ranch,” Finlay clarified. 

“The building can be replaced, the equipment can be replaced, but Michael Jackson’s alligators cannot be replaced,” Exotic said, per KXII. He claimed at the time that only one alligator which was owned by MJ had died while another suffered severe smoke inhalation and was recovering. 

The suspected arson incident also burned down the video production studio used for his show Joe Exotic TV, and to record his music. While Exotic publicly said the fire was a personal attack carried out by someone trying to “make a statement” in an effort to get him off the air, officials never ruled him out as a suspect.