Exclusive
Carole Baskin‘s rescue org says Jeff Lowe is not being a cool cat or kitten when it comes to obeying a court order over Joe Exotic‘s old zoo … and she wants a judge to step in.
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ, Big Cat Rescue claims Jeff is not complying with the court order from June, when a judge granted the rescue org control of the exotic animal park.
In the docs, Carole’s org says Jeff is blowing off payments due under the order… including missing a June deadline to hand over certain insurance paperwork, and isn’t forking over payments that were supposed to begin in July. The org wants him found in contempt of court.
According to the docs, the org also claims Jeff’s funneling money from the zoo into his own separate company, and the org rips him for filming reality shows on the property instead of complying with the court order.
The two sides had a contempt hearing set for this week, but Jeff said he couldn’t show up due to health issues … and a judge agreed to reschedule the hearing. We’re told Jeff missed the hearing because he thought he contracted the coronavirus — 2 tests eventually came back negative for COVID-19 — and he remains ill and will continue to quarantine as a precaution.
TMZ.com
Sources close to Jeff tell TMZ … the order was handed over to Jeff’s attorneys the day it was issued, and the demands were impossible to meet … making it more likely Jeff could get charged with contempt. His camp thinks that was Carole’s intention.
Sources say the org is demanding Jeff take out a $5 million insurance policy on the zoo for the next two months, but we’re told Jeff feels Carole knows that’s impossible to obtain.
Our sources say Jeff is NOT in contempt currently, and lawyers for both parties are close to a resolution.