via Captive Wildlife Watchdog
With the astronomical popularity of Netflix series Tiger King, it is necessary for Captive Wildlife Watchdog to level just a *modicum* of responsibility onto the shoulders of co-director Eric Goode for turning the plight of captive big cats in the U.S. into a farcical comedy.
From the earliest hints of the developing Tiger King series, Eric Goode, who not only co-directed, but also co-wrote and produced the show, described the upcoming ‘feature documentary’ as “the Blackfish of big cats” designed to expose the rampant abuse of captive big cats just as the rightfully acclaimed Blackfish exposed the abuse of captive orcas in Sea World facilities. Goode even created his own film company, Goode Film Productions, to focus on “environmental and animal welfare issues”. Tiger King is the company’s first “documentary series”.
***CWW has been told to not lose hope entirely, as there are rumors that the producer responsible for the real, original, Blackfish is working on a genuine documentary regarding captive big cats.***
That Goode’s Tiger King docuseries is nothing short of a painfully over-the-top-saga of intentional stupidity and debauchery goes without saying. Everyone who has viewed it, from the most ignorant of the public, to well known celebrities, to actual educated conservationists, can agree that Tiger King is a blazing dumpster fire careening for 7 episodes on wobbly wheels through an active oil field.
Perversely, the person driving that blazing dumpster fire, Eric Goode, is a man who claims to be, himself, an educated conservationist.
But who is Eric Goode truly? And what expertise and education does he possess that would give him the privilege to create an addictive garbage-fest like Tiger King, which glamorizes the idea of owning big cats in rundown backyard zoos, while simultaneously vilifying one of America’s mostly highly accredited big cat sanctuaries, and possibly destroying the only viable piece of U.S. legislation designed to protect captive big cats ever created?
Although Goode often enjoys having the term ‘conservationist’ attached to his name, in reality, he’s an artist turned hotelier. Only after Goode had amassed multiple multimillion dollar luxury hotels and restaurants did he get ‘involved’ with anything that could be construed as conservation. We will return to both Goode’s business practices, and his ‘conservation’ efforts later. For now, let’s examine Goode’s work on Tiger King.
In one recent interview regarding his hit show, Goode has claimed that he “had originally set out to do a slightly different story” than the trash-fest he actually co-wrote, co-directed and produced. Similar interviews reported that Goode is “horrified by the private animal parks run by people like Joe Exotic” despite that his Tiger King series successfully turned Joe Exotic into a beloved America folk hero to rival the likes of Robinhood.
In his interview with Vanity Fair, Goode says, “The real takeaway should be to give your money to conservation programs around the world that are really working hard to save tigers in their range countries, and not give your money to sanctuaries, which are really, effectively, just caging tigers and cats.” Note that Goode specifically uses the term ‘sanctuaries’.
The private animal parks owned by Joe Exotic, and Doc Antle shown in Tiger King are The private animal parks owned by Joe Exotic, and Doc Antle shown in Tiger King are not sanctuaries. They are either private zoo collections, or in the case of Antle’s facility (according to Antle) registered with the Zoo Associations of America. Only Big Cat Rescue is a Global Federations of Animal Sanctuaries accredited sanctuary.
This indicates that either Goode doesn’t understand the differences between the various zoo and sanctuary accreditations, or he’s intentionally targeting sanctuaries for some reason.
This indicates that either Goode doesn’t understand the differences between the various zoo and sanctuary accreditations, or he’s intentionally targeting sanctuaries for some reason.
Additionally, Goode, in one interview, while deriding all the characters shown within Tiger King, states that they try to justify what they do by insisting “That these few animals we can take out of the wild for the betterment of man.”
No cat involved in Tiger King was “taken out of the wild for the betterment of man”.
The tigers seen in Tiger King were all captive bred, most of them without any concern for or documentation of bloodlines or regard for lineage.
The hybrid cats seen are not a product of nature, but rather created by the intentional crossbreeding and hybridization of big cats for profit and/or coloration.
The hybrid cats seen are not a product of nature, but rather created by the intentional crossbreeding and hybridization of big cats for profit and/or coloration.
In contrast to Goode’s assertion, a number of wild bobcats have actually been rescued from injury or maternal abandonment, actually been rescued from injury or maternal abandonment, successfully rehabbed at Big Cat Rescue through their state licensed rehab program and then released back into the wild.
Again, this portrays Goode’s own painful ignorance about his subject matter, suggesting that captive bred tigers and hybrids have been taken from wild locations, while ignoring the fact that one of the sanctuaries he claims does nothing but cage big cats, is licensed to, and successfully has rehabbed and released wild specimens back into their natural habitat.
Goode states in another interview“ there is a whole new disturbing trend of exotic animal tourism. People can monetize photographs with elephants or tigers or large pythons or dolphins.”
The exploitation of captive wild animals for the purpose of tourism is not new. It has been going on for decades, with numerous established groups like CWW, Bloodlions, Green Girls in Africa, and dozens of others campaigning on a daily basis to end profiting from direct interactions, such as photographs, cub-petting, elephant rides etc. with captive wild animals.
It’s as if Goode didn’t even bother to perform a basic Google search before setting off on a self-appointed task to ‘discover’ a problem that actual conservationists have been battling for years.
After his initial interview with Vanity Fair, Goode backtracked, sending a second statement to VF to clarify his prior remarks, saying in part “I went into this to explore a different side of the animal world in terms of wild animals in captivity.” Goode then went on to directly blame Netflix for the “binge-worthy” nature of Tiger King, despite that Goode co-wrote, co-directed, and produced the show.
So, in the original interview, Goode says he wanted to show the public that they shouldn’t give money to ‘sanctuaries’ but instead to the conservation of wild tigers. But then he wrote a second statement to ‘clarify’ that what he meant to say, was that he intended to explore the ‘animal world’ only in terms of ‘animals in captivity.’
Which is the truth?
And those are just examples of flip-flopping from one interview given by Goode addressing his work on Tiger King.
In this RollingStone interview, Goode stated “What fascinated Rebecca and I was the “Best In Show aspect, where the people are almost more interesting that the exotic animals they’re keeping.” In this interview, both co-directors, Rebecca Chaiklin, and Goode, come across as positively giddy over how “easy” it was to get characters like Joe Exotic, and his nemesis Carole Baskin to “play their part” in the planned docuseries.
This is completely opposite to Goode’s claims in Vanity Fair that he intended to either educate the public about conserving wild tigers, or explore the ‘animal world’ in regard to tigers in captivity.
In Chaiklin’s words from the Rolling Stone interview “Carole obviously has this very pointed mission, so she was an open book.” It was simply a matter of giving the founder of the GFAS accredited sanctuary Big Cat Rescue the opportunity to participate in what was being peddled by Chaiklin and Goode as a hard-hitting documentary of captive big cat abuse and exploitation.
After all, trying to document and counter the abuse of captive big cats is what Baskin and her sanctuary do on a daily basis. Being offered a massive worldwide audience and distribution venue would have been tempting for any established conservationist.
After all, trying to document and counter the abuse of captive big cats is what Baskin and her sanctuary do on a daily basis. Being offered a massive worldwide audience and distribution venue would have been tempting for any established conservationist.
In the case of Joe Exotic, Chaiklin says, Joe “has the insatiable hunger to be a star, so he was over the moon,” to be involved. Which, considering that Joe Exotic not only had his own Youtube channel, which he stocked with media, but he’d also engaged with Rich Kirkham to have his daily life documented constantly in order to produce a reality TV show, comes as no surprise.
According to Chaiklin, it was Eric Goode (who perversely has described himself as being most at home in the seedy underworld of reptile smugglers) who was “super fluent” in the language and world of big cat owners, and, Chaiklin says in their RS interview, Goode “was able to gain their trust and get us into places that PETA had been trying to get into for 10 years,” establishing the fact that Goode said, and did, whatever he needed to in order to convince those shown in Tiger King, that they should trust him, and what he was doing.
In yet an interview with the Los Angeles Times, when questioned about the fact that he intentionally “sold” Tiger King as the next Blackfish for captive big cats, as a means of convincing Carole Baskin to work with him, for captive big cats, as a means of convincing Carole Baskin to work with him, Goode does not deny using that descriptive in order to convince Baskin to engage with him, but instead claims that Baskin “wasn’t coerced” to help with Tiger King, while complaining that Baskin should have known that Tiger King wasn’t going to be another Blackfish–even though Goode had specifically described it to her as a “big cat version of Blackfish–simply because of the questions asked of her.
Goode then asserts that in regard to Baskin, “there was a lack of intellectual curiosity to really go and understand or even see these animals in the wild. Certainly, Carole really had no interest in seeing an animal in the wild… The lack of education, frankly, was really interesting,”
This biased and personally judgmental opinion of one of the subjects of Goode’s supposedly ‘objective’ ‘documentary’ flies in the face of his co-director, Chaiklin’s description of Baskin, as someone who is “raising awareness around this (captive big cat) issue… She’s impressively intelligent and she’s helping in terms of the messaging that this is not a good practice and it’s cruel to the animals.”
It bears pointing out, that despite clearly believing Baskin to be an intelligent, capable and important “good guy” in the fight against the exploitation and abuse of captive big cats, Chaiklin had no qualms at all about producing a show that not only failed to portray this positive information, but actively promoted the opposite portrayal of Baskin, as well as focusing on hearsay and rumor unrelated to Baskin’s efforts in big cat conservation, but specifically intended to damage her reputation as both an expert, and as a person in general.
The only consistent thing about Tiger King co-director Eric Goode, is his inconsistency in the excuses, explanations, and stories he’s telling about his own creation. When you look at Goode as a ‘conservationist’ his character quickly follows on the heels of Joe Exotic himself. Or, perhaps more accurately, Jeff Lowe, a hard edged, smart guy who uses others for his own benefit. That’s because, for someone so critical of ‘big cat people’ who possess captive big cats, Goode himself, is involved in a tortoise and turtle version of the same activity.
Goode’s primary claim to conservation is being the founder of the Turtle Conservancy*, but how much of Goode is conservation, and how much is not?
Here are some quotes from Goode pertaining to the ‘big cat people’ shown in Tiger King. Beneath each quote from Goode, we have included related facts about his own Turtle Conservancy, and what it does.
“These people were just breeding animals basically like puppy mills…”
The Turtle Conservancy of Ojai California, founded, and run by Eric Goode, has, since it was created in 2006, bred and hatched thousands of tortoises and turtles of some 32 species. According to this older article, TC had hatched over 1,300 offspring of 20 different species at the time of printing. They’ve since added 12 additional species of tortoises and turtles. On average TC hatches out between 250 and 300 turtles and tortoises per year.“give your money to conservation programs…and not give your money to sanctuaries, which are really, effectively just caging tigers and cats.”
But Eric Goode’s Turtle Conservancy currently houses some 500 turtles and tortoises ‘caged’ in various enclosures, pens, and gardens on just 5 acres. It also actually promotes obtaining captive bred exotic Testudines as pets as a way of ‘relieving pressure’ on wild populations, and abating wildlife trafficking. And the Turtle Conservancy supplies Testudines to a number of zoological facilities.
“why not humanely euthanize these animals? If you don’t think these big cats should be in cages, why let them suffer in cages?” (Directed to Baskin in regard to her GFAS accredited sanctuary Big Cat Rescue, as opposed to allowing big cats rescued from abuse to live out their lives peacefully.)
But Eric Goode’s Turtle Conservancy has rescued exotic tortoises and turtles from illegal trafficking, which are being allowed to live out their lives at TC. Additionally, TC also ‘adopts’ out some of its surplus breeding stock to private owners, for a fee. Paying members of the Turtle Conservancy (there are different levels of membership from $25-$5,000 annually) are given preference (the adoption fee is in addition to any membership fee) when TC ‘adopts’ out surplus turtles and tortoises from their breeding programs.
“It’s a status,” “Like, look at me, I’m special.”
Goode has been celebrated in numerous articles and spotlights having founded the only AZA accredited tortoise and turtle breeding program in the world. He is generally referred to in hushed tones of awe, and credited with aiding the survival of tortoise species, even if that means buying animals from smugglers, and forcefully inserting himself into current research, using his money to buy his way into projects.
Goode often lists his numerous ‘scientific publications and articles, referring to having authored them. In reality, Goode’s involvement with such publications largely means that the Turtle Conservancy either funded research projects, or in the case of some, obtained CITES import permits to actually remove endangered specimens from their natural locations after those specimens were rescued from poachers or traffickers.
The specimens were then brought to the U.S. and the Turtle Conservancy established captive breeding programs for them and bred them in captivity. Goode, because he founded TC is included as a co-author in many cases where TC’s facilities or animals were used for research, or where it funded projects. Additionally, foundations associated with TC have put out numerous publications of their own, often listing Goode as a contributing author. Goode’s biography on the Turtle Conservancy website states that Goode is “currently in production on a feature documentary film, working with Executive Producers Fisher Stevens, Chris Smith, and Rebecca Chailkin.”
The ‘feature documentary’ listed in Goode’s TC biography, right under the paragraph citing Goode has having ‘authored and co-authored 20 academic publications and articles’, is, in actuality, Tiger King. If you consider Tiger King to be a feature documentary, then yes, you could suppose that Goode has actually authored academic publications. If you don’t consider Tiger King to be a feature documentary, then you can safely use Goode’s description of it as such as a gauge as to his authorship of academic publications and articles.
Goode portrays himself as someone dedicated to protecting wild animals in wild places, and has suggested in interviews that money should only be given to groups who conserve wild animals in wild spaces, yet Goode’s own Turtle Conservancy maintains captive populations, and breeds captive populations, while Goode regularly fundraises for Zoological facilities which exhibit captive populations, and also breed captive populations. Goode has even supported the use of live tortoises in art installations, arguing that activities like gluing iPads to the back of tortoises helps to raise awareness about them.
After multiple complaints, and more than 18,000 signatures were gathered on two separate petitions demanding that the exhibit be closed, and the iPads removed from the tortoises, the art gallery abruptly closed the installation. The tortoises were subsequently placed with ‘conservation’ and ‘educational’ facilities.
Goode has been celebrated in numerous articles and spotlights having founded the only AZA accredited tortoise and turtle breeding program in the world. He is generally referred to in hushed tones of awe, and credited with aiding the survival of tortoise species, even if that means buying animals from smugglers, and forcefully inserting himself into current research, using his money to buy his way into projects.
Goode often lists his numerous ‘scientific publications and articles, referring to having authored them. In reality, Goode’s involvement with such publications largely means that the Turtle Conservancy either funded research projects, or in the case of some, obtained CITES import permits to actually remove endangered specimens from their natural locations after those specimens were rescued from poachers or traffickers.
The specimens were then brought to the U.S. and the Turtle Conservancy established captive breeding programs for them and bred them in captivity. Goode, because he founded TC is included as a co-author in many cases where TC’s facilities or animals were used for research, or where it funded projects. Additionally, foundations associated with TC have put out numerous publications of their own, often listing Goode as a contributing author. Goode’s biography on the Turtle Conservancy website states that Goode is “currently in production on a feature documentary film, working with Executive Producers Fisher Stevens, Chris Smith, and Rebecca Chailkin.”
The ‘feature documentary’ listed in Goode’s TC biography, right under the paragraph citing Goode has having ‘authored and co-authored 20 academic publications and articles’, is, in actuality, Tiger King. If you consider Tiger King to be a feature documentary, then yes, you could suppose that Goode has actually authored academic publications. If you don’t consider Tiger King to be a feature documentary, then you can safely use Goode’s description of it as such as a gauge as to his authorship of academic publications and articles.
Goode adamantly believes that he, himself, is a functional conservationist, responsible for the salvation of multiple species from the brink of complete extinction, as well as being the author of academic publications. If one reads articles involving Goode, he clearly does not doubt his own importance in the conservation of various herpetological species for even a moment. Despite that his ‘involvement’ with all of the above largely comes down to monetary funding, and sitting on various boards.
“they justify [the captivity] by saying these animals are ambassador animals. That these few animals we can take out of the wild for the betterment of man. That we’re educating people”
The Turtle Conservancy has long offered private tours (you’re required to buy at least a $100 membership to TC to be eligible for a tour) and in 2018 TC opened to the public via 90 minute tours in association with the Ojai Valley Inn (rooms start at $400 a night) If you book a tour of the Turtle Conservancy through the Ojai Valley Inn during your stay there, you’ll pay $200 for adults and $50 for children under 12.
The educational tours of the facility, feeding captive turtles and tortoises, and viewing their captive breeding program, are all done in the name of conservation. TC has engaged in removing endangered Testudines from their natural countries, after those animals were rescued from traffickers and importing them into the United States to create captive breeding programs (as opposed to developing such preservation programs insitu) and TC regularly promotes their own internship, volunteer, and visitor programs to their captive breeding facility as being educational , volunteer, and visitor programs to their captive breeding facility as being educational.
Please note, both the Turtle Conservancy’s intern programs, and volunteer programs are unpaid, meaning, volunteers and interns work at the Conservancy for ‘nothing’. This was something specifically vilified in Tiger King in regard to the unpaid volunteers who help run the GFAS accredited sanctuary Big Cat Rescue.
The educational tours of the facility, feeding captive turtles and tortoises, and viewing their captive breeding program, are all done in the name of conservation. TC has engaged in removing endangered Testudines from their natural countries, after those animals were rescued from traffickers and importing them into the United States to create captive breeding programs (as opposed to developing such preservation programs insitu) and TC regularly promotes their own internship, volunteer, and visitor programs to their captive breeding facility as being educational , volunteer, and visitor programs to their captive breeding facility as being educational.
Please note, both the Turtle Conservancy’s intern programs, and volunteer programs are unpaid, meaning, volunteers and interns work at the Conservancy for ‘nothing’. This was something specifically vilified in Tiger King in regard to the unpaid volunteers who help run the GFAS accredited sanctuary Big Cat Rescue.
Eric Goode has been a lifelong lover of reptiles, and in 2002, the curator of the Bronx Zoo (Goode was an established fixture in NYC, and well known by many) contacted Goode for the purpose of finding a permanent home for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s turtle and tortoise assurance colony (in other words, their captive breeding group) after its current location was closed. To better understand the implications of that statement, readers need to understand that the Wildlife Conservation Society was originally founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, and is comprised of the Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo, and Queens Zoo.
This means that the captive breeding populations of exotic turtles and tortoises bred for the purpose of being exhibited in those Zoological facilities for profit needed somewhere to be housed. Eric Goode provided the location to house that breeding population via property he owned in Ojai California. Thus, the Turtle Conservancy was founded by Eric Goode. In some instances, curiously, Goode has claimed that TC began under different circumstances, saying that he chose to found it after witnessing a decline and disappearance of species in his home state of California. TC now breeds hundreds of Testudines in captivity every year, justifying their activity as conservation, and is celebrated as being the “only accredited breeder” of those species in the world.
This means that the captive breeding populations of exotic turtles and tortoises bred for the purpose of being exhibited in those Zoological facilities for profit needed somewhere to be housed. Eric Goode provided the location to house that breeding population via property he owned in Ojai California. Thus, the Turtle Conservancy was founded by Eric Goode. In some instances, curiously, Goode has claimed that TC began under different circumstances, saying that he chose to found it after witnessing a decline and disappearance of species in his home state of California. TC now breeds hundreds of Testudines in captivity every year, justifying their activity as conservation, and is celebrated as being the “only accredited breeder” of those species in the world.
But apparently, Goode sees no hypocrisy in the fact that he portrays himself as a conservationist who founded and runs an organization which maintains hundreds of turtles and tortoises in captivity, breeding hundreds more into captivity each year, while suggesting that if Baskin doesn’t really believe that tigers should be kept in captivity, she should humanly euthanize all the big cats that her GFAS accredited sanctuary has saved from abuse and exploitation.
Goode portrays himself as someone dedicated to protecting wild animals in wild places, and has suggested in interviews that money should only be given to groups who conserve wild animals in wild spaces, yet Goode’s own Turtle Conservancy maintains captive populations, and breeds captive populations, while Goode regularly fundraises for Zoological facilities which exhibit captive populations, and also breed captive populations. Goode has even supported the use of live tortoises in art installations, arguing that activities like gluing iPads to the back of tortoises helps to raise awareness about them.
After multiple complaints, and more than 18,000 signatures were gathered on two separate petitions demanding that the exhibit be closed, and the iPads removed from the tortoises, the art gallery abruptly closed the installation. The tortoises were subsequently placed with ‘conservation’ and ‘educational’ facilities.
Goode is a huge supporter of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) even holding an annual ‘Turtle Ball’ at his luxury New York hotel, the Bowery (more on this hotel later) to raise money for WCS. But as we’ve mentioned, the WCS is a unit of Zoo facilities which breed animals in captivity–including tigers–which will never be released into the wild. Yes, there are studbooks used by accredited zoos for the purpose of breeding big cats.
However, even with pure bloodlines, a tiger born in captivity which is twenty or thirty generations removed from wild ancestry, will never be able to be returned to a wild habitat. Never mind that these animals are being bred in the United States, which is not indigenous habitat for tigers of any subspecies. So when Goode and others say that the millions of visitors to zoos are ‘supporting the conservation of wild animals of the same species’ their claims aren’t unlike the claims made by trophy hunters who insist that money they generate can be used for conservation of wild species.
However, even with pure bloodlines, a tiger born in captivity which is twenty or thirty generations removed from wild ancestry, will never be able to be returned to a wild habitat. Never mind that these animals are being bred in the United States, which is not indigenous habitat for tigers of any subspecies. So when Goode and others say that the millions of visitors to zoos are ‘supporting the conservation of wild animals of the same species’ their claims aren’t unlike the claims made by trophy hunters who insist that money they generate can be used for conservation of wild species.
Yes, some small amount of money from zoo facilities might (depending on the facility) eventually find its way to wild conservation via on-the-ground studies, or the support of remote efforts. However, it bears pointing out that this is exactly what Doc Antle, one of the exploiters featured in Goode’s Tiger King series also claims. Pet a captive bred cub at Antle’s facility, and some measure of that profit goes into his Rare Species Fund, which gives money to remote zoos or anti-poaching units. Go visit Goode’s captive bred tortoises and turtles at the Turtle Conservancy and some measure of that profit goes to tortoise conservation programs in remote locations. Antle, bad guy, Goode, supposedly, good guy. No hypocrisy, or confusion for the public there.
But Goode avidly, and grandly advocates and promotes his own Turtle Conservancy, putting out printed media magazines, and offering opportunities for (unpaid) internships, and volunteering, and chances for researchers and even artists, to come and study and/or interact with those captive bred, and ‘caged’ tortoises who are used for breeding more tortoises and turtles.
Goode, and others, attribute their captive breeding programs, comprised of captive animals, kept in cages and enclosures for the duration of their very, very long lives, as having saved multiple species from the brink of extinction.
Goode, and others, attribute their captive breeding programs, comprised of captive animals, kept in cages and enclosures for the duration of their very, very long lives, as having saved multiple species from the brink of extinction.
Meanwhile, the majority of big cats housed at the GFAS accredited Big Cat Rescue have been Meanwhile, the majority of big cats housed at the GFAS accredited Big Cat Rescue have been confiscated by legal authorities from abusive situations, or neglect situations. Some of them were so starved they actually had to eat deceased cage-mates in order to survive, while others were permanently maimed from malnourishment and confinement. Upon arriving at Big Cat Rescue, cats are nursed back to health, and then allowed to live in peace, without any human interaction.
There is no breeding at the facility, and animals are never ‘adopted out’ to private homes after they arrive, unlike the Turtle Conservancy, which ‘adopts’ out surplus breeding stock.
There is no breeding at the facility, and animals are never ‘adopted out’ to private homes after they arrive, unlike the Turtle Conservancy, which ‘adopts’ out surplus breeding stock.
None of Eric Goode’s slippery misleading of the public in regard to his own exploits in the captive wild animal industry will be of any surprise to anyone who’s found themselves opposite his interests in any other theater. A successful hotelier, and restauranteur, Goode has been sued on several occasions by employees of his ventures under allegations of mistreatment of staff. He’s also come under fire for purportedly trying to strong-arm tenants who are protected by rent controlled situations within properties Goode obtained.
Notably, in 2008, Goode and his partner McPherson spent a year forcing longterm tenants out of a hotel they were turning into a posh tourist destination in New York City. Some of those tenants had lived in the hotel for over 30 years, but suddenly were being accused by management of non-payment of rent (on average, $200 a month) while hot water was being turned off, etc. One couple was offered $10,000 to move out of their unit but refused, understanding that its value was far above that price.
Currently, The Jane Hotel (now devoid of former residents and completely renovated in the theme of its famous Titanic survivor guests) offers carefully appointed rooms from $125.00-$325.00 a night. The rooms are 50 square feet (bathroom down the hall) to 250 square feet (small bathroom in-room) For those who are math-challenged, this means that Goode and partner are making about $9,750 a month on the larger Captains rooms (recall Goode offered $10K to a couple for their room in 2008) while the tenants they forcefully evicted had been living in the hotel for decades paying just $200 a month.
Currently, The Jane Hotel (now devoid of former residents and completely renovated in the theme of its famous Titanic survivor guests) offers carefully appointed rooms from $125.00-$325.00 a night. The rooms are 50 square feet (bathroom down the hall) to 250 square feet (small bathroom in-room) For those who are math-challenged, this means that Goode and partner are making about $9,750 a month on the larger Captains rooms (recall Goode offered $10K to a couple for their room in 2008) while the tenants they forcefully evicted had been living in the hotel for decades paying just $200 a month.
Then there’s the ongoing lawsuit that Goode and his partners put so much effort into trying to negate and ignore that a judge actually refused to allow them to speak on their own behalf, and simply moved into the settlement portion of the lawsuit. Goode and four others went together to buy a New York hotel (the fabulous Bowery where Goode hosts the Turtle ball) which was located on property owned by another company, Woodcutters Realty Corp. After the hotel was purchased, four of the five original partners, Goode, MacPherson, and two others, quietly bought all up all of Woodcutters Realty Corp stock behind their fifth partner’s back, since legally, they couldn’t just buy the company itself without including their partner.
Having controlling stock in Woodcutters made the four their own landlords, controlling the current lease which won’t expire until 2053. It also gave them the power to refuse to allow their ousted fifth partner any share in what he helped buy. Although the fifth partner filed his lawsuit in 2014 Goode, and company intentionally dragged the case out until 2017, when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge took the rare step of striking the defendants answers to their ousted partner’s lawsuit and simply awarded the suit to their former partner. Although Goode and company appealed, the judge’s ruling was upheld, meaning Goode and his lot are looking at around 50 million dollars owed to the partner they attempted to screw over.
As of 2020, however, Goode and company are currently fighting over how the land they basically stole should be valued, attempting to claim that they should only pay what it would be worth in 2053, which, they claim, will be far lower than its current value. However, by lowering the future value, they’ll also lower the current value, so as of right now, their partner still hasn’t collected anything. Meanwhile, Goode is continuing with his own life, and currently enjoying being the co-director of Tiger King, and all the fame and attention that’s bringing him.
Having controlling stock in Woodcutters made the four their own landlords, controlling the current lease which won’t expire until 2053. It also gave them the power to refuse to allow their ousted fifth partner any share in what he helped buy. Although the fifth partner filed his lawsuit in 2014 Goode, and company intentionally dragged the case out until 2017, when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge took the rare step of striking the defendants answers to their ousted partner’s lawsuit and simply awarded the suit to their former partner. Although Goode and company appealed, the judge’s ruling was upheld, meaning Goode and his lot are looking at around 50 million dollars owed to the partner they attempted to screw over.
As of 2020, however, Goode and company are currently fighting over how the land they basically stole should be valued, attempting to claim that they should only pay what it would be worth in 2053, which, they claim, will be far lower than its current value. However, by lowering the future value, they’ll also lower the current value, so as of right now, their partner still hasn’t collected anything. Meanwhile, Goode is continuing with his own life, and currently enjoying being the co-director of Tiger King, and all the fame and attention that’s bringing him.
Goode, for all of his affected and purported ignorance of ‘big cat people’ and the industry they inhabit, is a shrewd and keen business man. You don’t become a millionaire business man who successfully flips hotels in places like New York City, by forcing out poverty-stricken tenants, and shafting your own partners, while becoming a ‘hero’ in the public eye as a ‘man for the people’ because you’re suing other millionaires (Donald Trump) for ‘ethics violations’ without knowing how to spin a lie.
The public reaction to Tiger King continues to mount, but the reality is, people like Joe Exotic, Doc Antle, and Jeff Lowe, have been presented to the public for decades. The public just ignored them. These characters have been front and center in all those conservation or animal welfare articles that the mainstream public has hidden from their timeline feeds or skimmed over only to click on a celebrity headline in the sidebar. The public didn’t want to read about characters like Exotic, or Antle in terms of abusing captive wild animals. And Eric Goode knew that. Just as Goode knew a hotel with micro-rooms themed like the Titanic would sell like hotcakes, once he forcefully evicted the long-time poor residents, Goode also knew that if he presented these animal exploiters and abusers as larger than life characters, and made their personalities the focus of the media, the public would be rapt and embrace them.
The public reaction to Tiger King continues to mount, but the reality is, people like Joe Exotic, Doc Antle, and Jeff Lowe, have been presented to the public for decades. The public just ignored them. These characters have been front and center in all those conservation or animal welfare articles that the mainstream public has hidden from their timeline feeds or skimmed over only to click on a celebrity headline in the sidebar. The public didn’t want to read about characters like Exotic, or Antle in terms of abusing captive wild animals. And Eric Goode knew that. Just as Goode knew a hotel with micro-rooms themed like the Titanic would sell like hotcakes, once he forcefully evicted the long-time poor residents, Goode also knew that if he presented these animal exploiters and abusers as larger than life characters, and made their personalities the focus of the media, the public would be rapt and embrace them.
Tiger King is a farce not only because it fails to address the plight of captive big cats, but because Tiger King is a farce not only because it fails to address the plight of captive big cats, but because Eric Goode knew right from the off, which of his carefully portrayed caricatures would be loved by the public, which would be perceived as a weirdo, or a mastermind, and who would be hated with a vengeance. Goode understood how the public would champion certain characters, and how they would embrace the destruction of others.
An actual captive big cat feature documentary along the lines of Blackfish, which ethically and objectively parsed out the rampant issues facing captive big cats in America (or anywhere else, for that matter) would have provided the following to the public:
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A thorough and easily understandable breakdown of the current laws, or lack of laws regarding the private possession of captive big cats, including various accreditations like the AZA, ZAA, and GFAS, how those accreditations are obtained, and how private collections don’t need any accreditation at all.
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An in-depth look into the unregulated back-yard breeding of big cats, and the undocumented sales of cubs to other private owners or facilities.
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A concise list of the citations/infractions/complaints/investigations that featured facilities have against them, something often not realized by the public.
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A deep look into what exactly happens to the cubs who are bred for cub-petting, and the female tigers who are bred back repeatedly to produce the cubs, along with explanations as to why cub-petting is abusive and does not aid conservation.
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Present the health problems and shortened lifespans associated with the unnatural hybridization of big cats, or inbreeding to produce white specimens, while demanding documented evidence than any big cat bred in captivity in the U.S. has ever increased wild populations through repopulation.
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All of the above should be obtained via unpaid ‘whistleblowers’ who work(ed) directly in the industry and are willing to discuss it without receiving monetary compensation, assuring that they have ‘nothing to gain’ but the truth in their testimonies.
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A complete breakdown of the Big Cat Public Safety Act legislation, and how it would curtail, nationwide, all of the above-mentioned activities, how the bill must be passed, and the long-term impact it would have on captive big cats and ending the industry which has been built on them.
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While Eric Goode enjoys his fame as a CONservationist and undoubtedly makes a tidy profit off the rampant adoration of Tiger King, celebrities are piling onto the dumpster fire in order to gain their own share of fall-out fame and profit. David Spade (who has visited Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safaris) is hosting video interviews with Tiger King stars like Jeff Lowe (wherein he cracks distasteful jokes, and pals around with Lowe, who once choked his ex wife in a domestic dispute over his then-mistress Lauren, who is his now his current wife. Never mind that he was ‘zoo-shopping’ in CO because his prior zoo had been shut down due to issues).
Kim Kardashian (who played with cubs at Black Jaguar White Tiger in Mexico on her reality show) is tweeting to 65 million plus fans about rumors promoted by Goode’s Tiger King. (Although, is that really a coincidence, since Kardashian’s younger sister Kourtney visited Goode’s Turtle Conservancy? A little back scratching between celebrities perhaps?)
Cardi B tweeted to her nearly 11 million Twitter followers that she was going to start a fundraiser to free Joe Exotic, Tiger King’s centerpiece, who was convicted of murder for hire, while openly condemning his would-be murder victim. Everyone who is anyone wants a piece of the Tiger King’s proverbial crown.
Kim Kardashian (who played with cubs at Black Jaguar White Tiger in Mexico on her reality show) is tweeting to 65 million plus fans about rumors promoted by Goode’s Tiger King. (Although, is that really a coincidence, since Kardashian’s younger sister Kourtney visited Goode’s Turtle Conservancy? A little back scratching between celebrities perhaps?)
Cardi B tweeted to her nearly 11 million Twitter followers that she was going to start a fundraiser to free Joe Exotic, Tiger King’s centerpiece, who was convicted of murder for hire, while openly condemning his would-be murder victim. Everyone who is anyone wants a piece of the Tiger King’s proverbial crown.
Meanwhile, quietly in the background, genuine conservationists are methodically going about the business of picking up the pieces left behind by Goode’s foray into the world of captive big cats, doing what they can to correct the mass of inaccuracies, misinformation, and damaging fallacies about actual people created by Goode’s intentional misrepresentation of them left behind in the of Tiger King’s release. Few others, thus far, have bothered to point out the grossly negligent issues with the docuseries, or offer a deeper look into captive big cat issues in the U.S.
Though, slowly, articles like this one by Slate, are begging to appear, the damage done by Goode’s intentional choices has taken on a life of its own, and mitigation of that damage seems to be growing more distant by the hour.
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