“Tiger King” Joe Exotic has hit out after news reports linked him to a tiger trainer who was mauled to death.

“This is the c**p I am sick of. CNN drags me into this story to make a headline worth reading and I had nothing to do with this dude other than 18 years ago I let him keep his tigers at my zoo for one winter,” Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, wrote on X.

“Sick of being exploited for headlines,” he said, adding: “President Trump let’s sue CNN.”

Ryan Easley was killed on Saturday by a tiger under his care at the Growler Pines Tiger Preserve in Oklahoma, according to a statement from the preserve.

CNN cited a statement from PETA which said that Easley had previously obtained tigers from Exotic and Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle for his business ShowMe Tigers.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.