He originally made a deal with Joe that he would produce videos for his YouTube channel if Kirkham could filmJoe for his own reality show, but now all of that footagea whole year's worthwas gone. He is interested in cinemas from childhood. A week before the studio burned to the ground, Kirkham said he and Exotic got into an argument over ownership rights of the footage. There is no information about Rick Kirkhams height and weight. By Bernadette Roe / April 6, 2020 8:52 pm EST. The story, according to Kirkham, goes like this:"Before she got off the parkhe said, 'Rick, roll your camera. The basic facts of Tiger King are a matter of record. His desire to be near a recording camera all the time, as shown in Tiger King, was intuitive to him, as he had started recording his life daily with a video camera at 14. I lost everything I had. After backing down, Kirkham went on to work with Joe Exotic on his reality TV show, which featured his personal life and zoo. He had suffered a nervous breakdown, he told the filmmakers. He married Kristin E Rosy Kirkham in 2018, and reportedly works as a reporter for RealReels. "I was running with the nasty boys, licensed to carry a gun and a bulletproof vest," he said in a 2006 documentary about himself called "TV Junkie," released by HBO. He had worked briefly for KFBB-TV in Montana as a news director in 2013, prior to the Joe Exotic fiasco. I mean, he was just that crazy," Kirkham said. He relays numerous instances of animal cruelty he says he saw Joe Exotic participate in, and shows gory footage of Kelci "Saff" Saffery's damaged arm and hand after a tiger attack. Zoo fire. However, his career took a turn for the worse after he became involved with drugs. "Joe wanted us to run the cameras 24 hours a day, and we did," Kirkham told Sylvester. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Before he became addicted to drugs, Kirkham was a dancer on Dick ClarksAmerican Bandstand. Kirkham began to speak publicly about his drug use to young adults. Kirkham alsodiscusses the dark consequences of working atGreater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, revealing that he needed six months of therapy and one week of in-patient treatment to cope with what he'd seen. He has not returned. After getting sober, Kirkham started working as a producer for RealReels. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. He had worked briefly for KFBB-TV in Montana as a news director in 2013, prior to the Joe Exotic fiasco. As of 2020, Kirkham lives in Bodo, Norway. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Furthermore, he has his own YouTube channel with over 2.17K subscribers. Maldonado-Passage was, however, convicted in federal court of two counts of murder for hirethough the hitagainst Carole Baskindid not go throughalong with a number of charges around the animals he kept, includingnine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4pbBOnMh3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link. [2], Footage from Kirkham's 3,000 hour-long video diary was used in TV Junkie, a film about Kirkham's life and drug use. Furthermore, Exotic alleged that Baskin offered Kirkham $20,000 to burn down the studio. After surviving a near-fatal car accident, Kirkham decided to turn his life around for his two sons. Kirkham said once his "million-dollar reality show" was destroyed, he had "a nervous breakdown" and left Oklahoma. "[7] He gave an example of Exotic being cruel to his animals by telling the story of a woman who brought an old horse in a trailer to the G.W. He took over 46 boxes of film and 3,200 videotapes of footage and had them made into the documentaryT.V. Joe Exotic was everything I had dreamed of in finding a reality show, the project's producer Rick Kirkham said in the Netflix docuseries. Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories? And of course, he fed that horse to the lions. But Kirkham had more to say about Joe Exotic in a two-hour livestream pay chat that aired April 11. He explained that because ofthese strange things he allegedly witnessed while working with Joe, he can't even be mad that Netflix made a project like the one he initially wanted to make. He is an ardent follower of Jesus Christ and belongs to the Christian religion. CNET's interview with Joel McHale where he discusses Community and Tiger King, 9 things you didn't know about Netflix's insane hit show, 7 ways to get more of Netflix's wildly popular documentary, President Trump will 'take a look' at pardoning Tiger King Joe Exotic, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Richard Allen Kirkham (born May 16, 1958) is an American film producer, writer, cinematographer and journalist who is best known for his documentary TV Junkie and appearance in the Netflix documentary Tiger King. Rick Kirkham (born 16 May 1958) is a famous American writer, journalist, producer, and cinematographer from the United States. He talked about his attempt to make a documentary about Joe Exotics tiger park in Oklahoma. In 1996, Kirkham was fired fromInside Editionbecause of his addiction. Rick describes himself as, "A journalist dedicated to educating our children and . In that same interview, Kirkham shared that Maldonado-Passage was a very evil guy to the animals and the people that worked for him. The popular writer came to this world from his parents on Friday, May 16, 1958, in the United States. he reflected in the docuseries. Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. Kirkham claimed to have everything on video, including good, bad, and ugly.. He told Sylvesterthat he even feared for his life because of Joe's alleged recklessness. After completing her schooling from American Broadcasting School, he enrolled his name at the University of Central Oklahoma for his graduation. He has one sibling and is very close to his brother. By 1988, he was hired at the newsmagazine program Inside Edition to partake in deadly stunts like being shot out of a cannon or being set on fire. Kirkham is featured prominently throughout the documentary, recounting the rise and fall of "Joe Exotic TV", a podcast-like production that Kirkham hoped to develop into a TV series, before his footage was mysteriously destroyed. He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007 to talk about his addiction, and clips of his video diary were shown. That was Joe Exotic. OnLights Out with David Spade, Kirkham expands about Tiger King and the studio fireduring a 16-minute interview. Carole Baskin and Kirkham are Facebook friends. She divorced Kirkham in 2001 following his drug abuse, and later filed a lawsuit against the producers of TV Junkie.[11][12]. Eventually, Kirkham achieved sobriety and released the 2006 documentary TV Junkie, a compilation of self-filmed footage during his drug use. "He was scared to death of . He is also popular for his signature style of wearing a dark cowboy hat. But some of the stream's topics are lighter, such as discussions of Joe's mullet, political campaigns, and his attempts at a country-music career, though he himself didn't do any of the singing. TIGER King's Rick Kirkham has said he hates the hit documentary's star Joe Exotic so much that he wanted him to be devoured by his own big cats. Ricks finances have a good chance of improving further in the future. While Baskin admitted to conversing with Kirkham, she denied making him any offer. Zoo and lived there until his departure in 2015. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. As a well-known producer, Kirkham linked up with Maldonado-Passage in the hopes of making a reality show about the "Tiger King.". Rick Kirkham has a fair height of 5 feet 8 inches. Bush while high, according to Oxygen. Recently in 2020, he starred in the Netflix documentary Tiger King. Then he took off to Las Vegas to become a crime reporter at an NBC affiliate, according to ABC News. The irony of the docu-series, Kirkham said, is that you can't tell how scared Joe Exotic was of his own tigers. After all, as the documentary maker, he had his camera rolling at all times and is privy to a fair amount of information. But he never wanted all of it released.". Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. If anything, I'm grateful because, to be quite honest with you, about four months after I was there, I started realizing what was going on and seeing things that I knew were wrong," Kirkham said. Kirkham said Netflix interviewed him for the new episode about "my feelings about the documentary" and also "what my life has been like since" the series came out. As for the alleged animal abuse, Kirkham said Joe Exotic would not only kill his older tigers and then "feed them right to the other tigers," but Kirkham said he oncewatchedhim kill a horsea woman had brought him because he claimed he would take care of it and let it use his big pasture. Rick Kirkham, the subject of Netflixs riveting documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, is far from the drama and leads a quite honest and normal life, having left everything behind because of his past in the United States. "I knew that I could make him famous," Kirkham said while remembering a business opportunity that seemed like a good idea at the time. But he also began smoking crack during this time. . After that, he started writing his own theatre plays. Rick Kirkham was one of the more sympathetic figures in Netflix hitTiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Rick debuted in the film entertainment industry in 1994. Netflix's Tiger King is full of baffling story . ", "There was a whole lot more to talk about; a whole lot more that could've been shown about Joe Exotic and just how wild and crazy and evil-hearted the man really was," Kirkham said, adding that a more accurate depiction would take the documentary, "multiply it [and] put it on steroids.". At one point during this stint, Kirkham interviewed then-president George H.W. Junkie, which was later used in schools to teach kids about the dangers of drug addiction. The Oklahoma City native was thrust into the spotlight as a dancer on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" by age 16, according to a, He got a degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma in 1981, according to Kirkhams. Tiger King (subtitled in marketing as Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness for its first season, Tiger King 2 for its second season and Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story for its third season) is an American true crime documentary streaming television series about the life of former zookeeper and convicted felon Joe Exotic. Conservative media personality Bill O'Reilly, who used to work as an anchor on the show, even called his former co-worker Kirkham "nuts" in a clip included in the docuseries. If youve been watching the new docuseries, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,. As soon as the lady left the park, Exotic said, 'Rick, grab your camera. Rick Kirkham (born 16 May 1958) is a famous American writer, journalist, producer, and cinematographer from the United States. Rick, on the other hand, was able to overcome his drug addiction issues before releasing a documentary called TV Junkie, which was shot while he was high. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. "That's the real irony here,is the fact that Joe Exotic, all he ever wanted in his life was to be famous; the most famous man in the world," Kirkham told Sylvester. Kirkham's livestream isn't for everyone. He had worked briefly for KFBB-TV in Montana as a news director in 2013, prior to the Joe Exotic fiasco. Rick is active on Facebook with around 3K following. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! His drug addiction became so severe at one point that he was sent to rehab by his wife and Inside Edition, where he previously worked. Tami, his wife at that time, could not stand Ricks addiction to the news and drugs. On Tiger King, he co-starred with Mario Tabraue. Net, Kristen Stadtlander networth, bio, Early Life, Career,, Liza Weil Net Worth, Age, Height, Boyfriend,, Nicholas Godejohn net worth, bio, Early Life,. Hes gone on to appear in several interviews and is attached to other shows trying to make the most of the popularity Tiger King received. Kirkham previously married a woman named Tammie, with whom he has a son. What happened to Tiger King interviewee Rick Kirkham, the TV producer whose footage was lost in a fire? Kirkham started working as a producer at RealReels in 1999 where he still works, according to his LinkedIn. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. During his tenure at the zoo, Kirkham witnessed Exotic's erratic behaviour towards his animals, and recalled a time he witnessed him promising a woman he'd care of her horse, only to immediately kill it. Exotic originally enlisted him to do the production for Exotic's internet show which often focused on Exotics hatred for his longtime rival Carole Baskin. He refers to her as his bonus daughter and seems to share a bond of affection. Rick Kirkham currently resides in Norway where he married and started a new life with his new wife. In an exclusive interview with Daily Pop 's Justin Sylvester, Rick Kirkham the veteran journalist and producer who worked on Joe's reality show and was recently featured in Netflix's Tiger King . Since Tiger King's release, Kirkham has been making the interview rounds to discuss the Netflix docuseries, and told Extra's Billy Bush that his version would've been "more violent" and would've exposed "a . "It was cultish, very cultish," he said of the atmosphere. He also believesthat Joe was "110 percent" capable of murdering Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue. 2. Rick Kirkham. 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