Right alongside these behaviors is leaders belittling their followers in order to secure their position at the top, and John Reinke reveals in The Tiger And I that Joe Exotic did this constantly.
“He always tried to keep people smaller than him, Reinke explains in the follow-up episode.
Tiger King is arguably a series about a trio of big cat-centric cults, with each of the organizations featuring many of the recognizable traits – including hierarchies serving under an eccentric leader, and recruitment strategies typically targeting destitute and vulnerable individuals.
Reinke says that the zoo owner never recognized his contributions to the park and the work that he was doing taking care of the animals, and instead regularly demeaned him and other employees by telling them that he couldn’t run the zoo, and wouldn’t know how to if he tried.