Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage, who gained fame in the Netflix documentary Tiger King, says he has been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer.
"It is with a sad face that I have to tell you … that my prostate biopsy's came back with an aggressive cancer," Maldonado-Passage, who is being held at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, wrote in a handwritten message posted on social media.
"Right now I don't want anyone's pity and I'm sure Carole will have a party over this," he added, referencing rival Carole Baskin.
It comes only weeks before a second season of Tiger King lands on the streaming service on November 17.
The blond mullet-wearing former Oklahoma zoo keeper is also known for his expletive-laden rants on YouTube and a failed 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial campaign.
He was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2020 after being convicted for violating federal wildlife laws and a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Ms Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida.
A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver in July ordered Maldonado-Passage be resentenced to a shorter term, finding that the trial court wrongly treated the two convictions separately in calculating his prison term.
The panel said his advisory sentencing range should be between 17 1/2 years and just under 22 years, rather than between just under 22 years and 27 years in prison used by the trial court.
Maldonado-Passage wrote on Twitter for prayers and "the world to be my voice to be released", saying there is no evidence he committed crimes.
AP
