This Indiana Restaurateur Transformed Into Joe Exotic to Raise Money for His Staff
Beyond the immediate and acute public health crisis that finds overworked and under-equipped doctors and nurses scrambling to save lives, there have been two secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: widespread job losses (especially in the derailed restaurant industry), and the fact that everyone with a Netflix password and nowhere to be is watching the docu-series Tiger King.
You might think the very real pain of layoffs experienced by service industry workers and the unfathomably absurd exploits of tiger collector and convicted criminal Joe Exotic have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but don’t tell that to Jake Burgess. Why? Because the Indiana-based restaurateur recently endured a makeover that transformed him into the titular Tiger King to raise funds for the 147 laid-off staff employees of his restaurants.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Burgess, who owns a series of restaurants in the greater Indianapolis area, pledged he would get his hair styled to resemble the bleached mullet of Mr. Exotic if more than 1,000 viewers tuned in to his stream. Naturally, well over 3,000 did, and one of the worst makeovers of all time was on.
While Burgess joked that his awful haircut might send him to jail and floated the idea of getting a tiger and running for governor, he also opened up about the serious and difficult decision to temporarily shut down his four restaurants and a food truck, leaving his employees without their livelihood.
"This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, the hardest decision I ever made in my life," the Star says Burgess said mid-stream. "They are, those 140 people, are the reason we’ve been able to grow.”
With that in mind, becoming Joe Exotic with a little help from hairstylist and friend Carly Sparks was a small price to pay if it meant helping out his staff. “If I can dye my hair with a friend of mine who gains a little attention and we can have a little bit of fun and help them, that's what we'll do," said Burgess.
Though Burgess didn’t see a tiger, now his fans understand how important it was to raise funds for the staff at Foxgardin and his other restaurants. Between gift card purchases and Vemo donations to @Foxgardin, the fundraiser amassed $3,500 for his employees. Burgess is also pivoting to offer takeout and delivery to keep some of his staff working, while also getting his food truck back on the road.
There are a lot of worthwhile ways to help restaurants in this moment of need, many of which don’t involve transforming yourself to look like someone with an overwhelming hatred for the owner of Big Cat Rescue. But if we’ve learned anything from this successful stunt, it’s that channeling the spirit of Joe Exotic doesn’t not work.
