Carole Baskin explained why she refuses to be apart of Tiger King Season 2. The infamous docuseries featured the big cats of the big cat industry. Its full title is Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, and that’s a pretty apt description of the series. It became an instant phenomenon on Netflix for its truth-is-stranger-than-fiction characters and storylines. The docuseries explored how Joe Exotic ended up in prison for over 20 years over animal abuse and murder-for-hire charges. Tiger King also focused on the life story of Joe Exotic, especially when it comes to his unconventional romantic life, Doc Antle and his alleged sex cult, and the mysterious disappearance of Baskin’s husband, Don Lewis.
Tiger King drummed up quite a fascination surrounding Baskin. One of the seven episodes of the docuseries was solely focused on allegations that Baskin murdered her husband, Lewis. The episode played out like a Dateline special exploring theories about how she staged Lewis’s disappearance and killed him. Additionally, the docuseries highlighted some negative aspects of her Big Cats Rescue sanctuary. The series revealed that Baskin didn’t pay any of the workers at her sanctuary and showed several other Big Cat community members talking down on it.
Baskin herself confirmed that she was asked to return for Tiger King Season 2. During an interview with RadioTimes, Baskin revealed why she ultimately turned down the offer. It reportedly wasn’t a hard decision for her. She claimed that production reached out a few weeks ago to “clear the air.” The producers’ (and viewers) know that Baskin wasn’t thrilled with how she was portrayed in the documentary. Baskin had felt “so misled” and “betrayed” by production. She reportedly was led to believe it would be an informative effort to raise awareness for big cats rather than the “freak show they produced.” Ultimately, she told Tiger King to “lose her number.”
She also revealed that they had told her that Joe Exotic would only be in five minutes of the docuseries. She also debunked the feud between them featured in the narrative in Tiger King. Baskin claimed that she had only seen Exotic a couple of times before the lawsuit over the Big Cats Rescue copyright issue and didn’t speak with him outside of the lawsuit. This doesn’t come as a terrible shock since the feud seemed one-sided, with Exotic cursing her name into the void of his Internet series. Baskin didn’t seem to retaliate much outside of the lawsuit.
As Baskin stated, Tiger King didn’t necessarily portray her in the most favorable light. Between the murder allegations and negative talk surrounding Big Cats Rescue, Baskin ended up becoming one of the docuseries’ villains in fans’ eyes. It makes sense that Baskin would downright refuse to appear in Tiger King Season 2.
However, it will be a disappointment to viewers. Love her or hate her, Baskin was a fascinating character to watch with, from her flower crowns to her signature greeting, “Hey, all you cool cats and kittens.” Viewers that want to watch Baskin’s antics will have to resort to rewatching Tiger King Season 1.
Source: RadioTimes
Originally from https://screenrant.com/tiger-king-season-2-carole-baskin-return-update/