Copyright newsweek
The internet is collectively stunned after one of the most unlikely celebrity endorsements of the year: Joe Exotic, the incarcerated former reality-TV star, has declared that everyone in his jail is listening to Hilary Duff’s new single. The moment unfolded this week after Duff’s husband, musician and producer Matthew Koma, posted about her latest release on social media. In the comments, a verified account belonging the self-proclaimed “Tiger King”—whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage—chimed in with: “All the guys in here listening to it.” Koma replied, “Thanks, Uncle Joe” and shared the exchange to his Instagram stories. Within hours, screenshots of the exchange went viral across Reddit and Threads, where people were shocked by the unexpected crossover. Hilary Duff’s New Single Earlier this month, actress and singer Hilary Duff released “Mature”, her first original single in nearly ten years. The track marks Duff’s official return to music following a long hiatus. Co-written with her husband Matthew Koma and songwriter Madison Love, “Mature” has sparked delight from Duff’s fans and sparked plenty of attention across the internet. The single also marks Duff’s debut under her new record deal with Atlantic Records, signaling a fresh chapter in her career. Joe Exotic says everyone in prison is listening to Hilary Duff’s new single byu/ThrowawayGreenWitch inpopculturechat Joe Exotic’s Unlikely Endorsement Exotic, now 60, is currently serving a 21-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, following his conviction for a murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin—a story that gained international fame in Netflix’s 2020 hit Tiger King. Despite being behind bars, Exotic’s social media presence has remained unusually active. His accounts on Instagram, X and TikTok continue to post commentary, political messages and personal updates, often leading fans to question how he’s managing it from inside prison walls. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, inmates do not have access to the internet or social media platforms. Instead, they can use a limited internal email system called TRULINCS for approved communications. Exotic, however, has claimed that he still writes and directs his posts by hand, sending “six to ten posts a day” to his team, who then upload them online on his behalf. Hilary Duff attends Vogue World: Hollywood 2025 at Paramount Studios, left, and Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic,” right. This isn’t the first time Duff and Exotic’s names have crossed paths. In 2023, Exotic commented on one of Duff’s Thanksgiving Day Instagram posts with three heart emojis, later pleading with Koma to “get me out of here.” Koma entertained the exchange, even offering to visit him behind bars. The odd online friendship has since evolved into a recurring source of entertainment for followers—and this latest exchange only deepened that fascination.
