10 Things We Learned From Jon Ronson On Louis Theroux's Grounded Podcast

Before Joe Exotic was the star of Netflix's Tiger King documentary, he starred in a 2011 Louis Theroux adventure called America's Most Dangerous Pets. It focused on the private zoo problem in the states and it can be found on Netflix. That episode of Theroux's storied career also featured pet owners who preferred primates to big cats. It was around the time that a lot of chimpanzee attacks were in the news so Theroux was understandably nervous.

The chimp owners who met him wanted to show the world that chimps were loving creatures who got a bad rep. As he tells Ronson, Theroux ticked off these people with the way that he framed their chimp's behaviour in his show. He nervously waited in the house when they let the chimp barrel around the garden, watching it through the window. The chimp spotted him, ran over to the window and banged on the glass, shattering it.

Theroux admits that it didn't necessarily seem like an act of aggression from the chimp, who frightened himself when he broke the glass. The scene ends with Theroux telling the couple he's got enough on camera and that he's happy to go. It's a funny moment. However, the couple didn't see the humour in it and scorned Theroux in a letter for overlooking the fact that he had the world's only swimming chimpanzee at his leisure.