Dillon Passage and Joseph Maldonado-Passage.Photo: Joe Exotic/Instagram
Joseph Maldonado-Passageaka “Joe Exotic” is officially taking steps to end his marriage to Dillon Passage.
A year afterPassage announced that they had split, Maldonado-Passage filed for divorce from behind bars on Thursday, his lawyer, Autumn Beck Blackledge, confirms to PEOPLE.
Maldonado-Passage, 59, filed in Santa Rosa County, Florida, where he and Passage, 25, last lived together as a married couple and near where Passage currently resides.
Blackledge noted that while the pair did split last year, Passage allegedly “failed to serve his husband and did not follow through with obtaining a divorce through the legal system.” Since then, Maldonado-Passage has allegedly attempted to contact Passage multiple times with no luck and is now hoping “they can both move on with their lives and divorce quickly and amicably,” according to Blackledge.
“Joe isnearing the end of his cancer treatmentand has fallen in love. He has no ill will toward Dillon, but has been trying for a while to reach him to get a divorce settlement,” Blackledge tells PEOPLE in a statement. “My understanding is that both Joe and Dillion have moved on romantically and they should both have the freedom to love again free from the bonds of marriage.”
According to the documents, Maldonado-Passage called their four-year marriage “irretrievably broken” and is requesting alimony in the divorce.
TheTiger Kingstar, who wasrecently resentenced to 21 years in prisonon a murder-for-hire charge, is also requesting to drop Passage’s last name from his legal name.
TMZwas the first to report the news.
Dillon Passage and Joe Exotic.Dillon Passage/Instagram
The world learned of the pair’s relationship through Netflix’s series,Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, which premiered its first season in 2020. The series provided a closer look at the underground world of big cat breeding, namely Maldonado-Passage’s own narrative, and his ongoing feud withCarole Baskin, an animal rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue.
In December 2017, Passage and Maldonado-Passagetied the knot. But just over two years later, Maldonado-Passage was convicted of trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin.
Though Passage was initially supportive of Maldonado-Passage,telling PEOPLE in June 2020that they had “kind of gotten used to our situation,” he eventuallyannounced their splitin March 2021.
In his Instagram post, Passage wrote, “To answer the main question the public wants to know, yes, Joe and I are seeking a divorce. This wasn’t an easy decision to make but Joe and I both understand that this situation isn’t fair to either of us.”
RELATED VIDEO: Joe Exotic Transferred to North Carolina Medical Facility After ‘Aggressive Cancer’ Diagnosis
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Passage has since moved on,debuting his new relationshipwith boyfriend John on Instagram in July 2021.
“Everyone, meet John 👋 I’ve planned on keeping my relationship private for personal reasons but lately I’ve been having a hard time dealing with things happening in my life and John has been my rock and helping me get through it all,“he wrote at the time. “In short, this is an appreciation post for this special special man. Thank you for being you ❤️.”
source: people.com
