‘Tiger King’ star Jeff Lowe believes recent stroke was caused by spiked drink

An unknown man claiming to know Jeff as well as his drink order approached him at a casino

Jeff Lowe, one of the stars in Netflix‘s docu-series Tiger King, has suffered a stroke that he believes was caused by poisoning.

Lowe was hospitalised last week (March 18) after spending the evening at WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma with his wife, Lauren.

Lauren told TMZ yesterday (March 26) that the pair believe his drink was spiked by an unknown man who approached them, claiming to know Jeff and his favourite drink order. She added that the couple saw the man hang around when a group of Tiger King fans asked for pictures at their table.


“I thought he was dying in my arms,” Lauren told TMZ of the moment around 3am when Jeff collapsed and stopped breathing. Later, his urine tests came back negative for “commonly abused drugs”, which led Lauren to think something “more exotic” was ingested.

Jeff spent three days at a hospital in Denton, Texas and is now recovering at home where he is struggling with his speech and co-ordination.

The Tiger King star is known for entering the show as a benevolent business partner who wanted to help the programme’s central star, Joe Exotic, revive his struggling zoo.

Jeff took over the compound when Exotic was imprisoned for a 22-year sentence on animal abuse charges and a murder-for-hire plot against his rival, Carole Baskin. Baskin later bought the zoo.

In other Tiger King news, Louis Theroux is set to return to the US for a new feature-length documentary about Joe Exotic 10 years after meeting him for America’s Most Dangerous Pets.